Halo: The Flood
by Gharst Omenlumin
Summary: 4 Spartans escaped Reach on the Pillar of Autumn, but the Fleet of Particular Justice followed. none of them, however, were prepared to encounter a gigantic ring. Or the horrors that are buried beneath. (Halo AU where Sam survived Chi Ceti) rated M just to be safe
1. Chapter 1

**Halo: The Flood**

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 **A/N: Hello, fellow murderers, smugglers, thieves and other scum of the galaxy. I read The Fall Of Reach, and I really liked the book. I was, however, disappointed that Sam died, and even more so when I could find so few stories on this site depicting his survival. so here I will depict his story if he survived to be in Halo: The flood, and I will do my best to depict characters correctly**

 **Note that this is my first story I've written, so any reviews would be welcome. (rather ones that offer actual advice instead of mere one-word reviews, but I won't blame you if you give them anyway)**

 **I don't own anything in these stories beyond OC's**

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Chapter 1

there was no explanation for what she saw.

She saw a mirror in front of her, showing her as she was when she was 9 years old, when the Covenant invaded her how world. She still looked quite innocent, except maybe for her 2 differently coloured eyes. They used to terrify people, with one eye icy blue, and the other so bright orange most people compared it with fire. But she knew she was by now (Chronologically at least) 26 years old, give or take a few months, and she was so heavily scarred across her face that she doubted she would win any beauty prices with it.

No matter. She was a Spartan, trained by Lieutenant Ambrose, and had taken down dozens of insurrectionist groups on her own. She...

Wait.

Now she knew why she looked like that. It was said that when people were awakened from Cryo-sleep they had a burst of REM sleep, and during that time people could be dreaming. But if she was waking up, then the Autumn must be coming out of Slipspace, and usually when a UNSC ship came out of Slipspace after a battle, there were usually Covenant soldiers waiting at their destination. Great.

She wondered what Jorge would have said at this point, but he was dead. So was the rest of Noble team, for that matter. They had died on reach, either killed because of her failing to do something, because of them sacrificing themselves for her, or in Jun's case being left behind to protect a scientist on Reach. She wished she had taken Emile's knife when she was picked up from the Onager cannon and taken to the Autumn, just as a way to remember the team. He was the only one from who she didn't have a memento to remember him. Jorge gave her his Dog-tags and threw her off the Ardent Prayer, barely a minute before he detonated the Slipspace bomb the 2 of them had smuggled on board the corvette. Jun gave her a few more rounds of ammunition when they were scouting out a Covenant drop zone on Reach. Carter gave her his and Kat's Dog-tags when he ordered her to jump off of the Pelican.

Kat had died barely a day before, and she and Carter were pretty close, so she decided it was a symbol of trust that Carter gave them to her instead of Emile.

Then she heard the lid of her pod hiss, and she focused on what was to come.

* * *

The first thing Sam saw when the his pod opened was that there was no army of technicians waiting to help him and his team recover from Cryo-sleep, at least as far as he could see. No medics ready in case he had freezer-burn. Just one technician currently busy helping John, and one on standby in the observation bay above the Cryo-pods. He looked to the other side, and saw that Linda was just awakening, but still had trouble with it. He got out of his own pod to help her.

He could sympathise with her troubles, for she had just recovered from a surgery that saved her life. On Gamma station, where she, John and James were busy deleting NAV-data that was still present, she had been hit by at least 5 overcharged Plasma Pistols. The only thing that had saved her was that the only survivor of Noble-team that came with them was a highly trained combat surgeon, and had operated on Linda for hours after the Autumn had jumped to Slipspace.

Then he arrived at Linda's Cryo-pod, and helped her stand. Inside the pod itself at first, and then helped her out off the Pod.

"I'll make it from here, thank you." Linda said.

"Alright." he responded.

Then over the intercom, a voice said "Bridge to Cryo two, this is Captain Keyes. Send the Spartans to the Bridge immediately."

The technician near John responded "Captain, we haven't even started the optical diagnostics, and I...". the captain interrupted him before he could finish. "on the double, Crewman."

"Aye aye, sir." was the only thing the crewman managed. He turned to the spartans, which Sam noticed were four of them, the Noble survivor now standing with them. "the captain seems jumpy, so we better get going. We'll find you weapons along the way.".

There sounded an explosion above, and Sam saw that the door near the technician had exploded, and that a lot of blood now covered the window where he had stood. "we need to go, or they'll overrun the lower bay as well." the odd spartan said. She started heading for the door, but turned as she noticed the technician wasn't following, but just staring at the window where his colleague had stood.

"Crewman, we could use a guide to the bridge." John said, and held the door open for him. The technician came out of his shock, and started to lead them to a second door further down the hall. Just when the Technician began entering his key-code to unlock it, a wallpanel exploded, and the man was thrown across the hall. Sam then heard laughter coming from behind him. He turned, and saw that the survivor from Noble-team was jumping through a hole between some ducts. "there's a way through here." the spartan said.

"what were you laughing at?" Linda asked.

"that a small explosion managed to throw the man's corpse so far. I have a sick sense of humour like that." the survivor responded.

"What do we even call you? All I know of you is that you were a member of Noble-team, and that you saved my life." Linda asked after a few moments.

The Spartan seemed to ponder that for a few moments, and then said "for now, just Six will do."

"Just Six?"

"It was my callsign in Noble-team. I'll respond to it, and it will do while I come up with something better."

"fair enough."

After a few minutes they ended up in a maintenance corridor, and were about to enter the main corridor leading to the bridge when they were ambushed by 2 elites.

They emerged from the alcoves just before the door, a minor and a major, each armed with 2 plasma rifles, and were ready to fire on the spartans the moment they emerged. John, Sam and Linda started falling back, trying to find some cover, but Six instead sprinted TOWARDS them, grabbing her knife while she did so. She ducked under most of the shots the elites fired, and let her shields handle the rest, though they got dangerously low. When she got close enough, she made a roundhouse kick at the major, knocking his rifles out of his hands. The major activated his energy daggers, but Six jumped at him, knocking him down. Before the major could do anything, she then inserted her knife into his eye, all the way to the hilt, and dragged it across his face until he stopped struggling. Six removed the knife and turned to the minor, who looked stunned by what he just saw happen. He tried to raise his rifles, but then got grabbed from behind by Sam, and he punched the elite multiple times with all of his strength. A punch from the average spartan was enough to kill any human and, if properly placed, most elites. But Sam weighted 155 kilos, and even one punch from him broke any of the elites bones into multiple pieces. But Sam punched the elite on the head five times. The minor didn't stand a chance.

Six nodded in approval. "and I thought I was aggressive." Sam laughed. So she did have a good sense of humor "oh, you are. You merely have a more... straight-forward approach." Six chuckled at that.

John and Linda just looked on at the exchange, then at each other. "are always this... offensive?" Linda asked.

"only when I'm armed with just a knife." she then grabbed one of the dropped rifles, and grabbed the grenades the major carried. "let's grab the rifles and keep moving. The captain won't come to us."

the rest of the journey to the bridge went off without a hitch for the spartans, for they either encountered fellow marines or Covenant locked behind blast doors. They entered the bridge, and found it in what a marine had just described as "controlled chaos". Though there were no people running around without purpose, people still seemed to be in a hurry to get things done. The Captain was in a discussion with an ensign about the large amount of boarders. John addressed the Captain. "Captain Keyes."

The captain turned from his conversation with an ensign, who walked back to his post. "good to see you, Spartans. Unfortunately things aren't going well for us. Cortana gave it her best, but we never really had a chance."

Cortana chose that moment to appear, facing the Captain. "a dozen Covenant superior battleships against a single Halcyon-class cruiser. With those odds I'm content with 3... make that 4 kills." she turned to the Spartans. "sleep well?" John responded "no thanks to your driving, yes." Sam diverted his attention from then on, for he knew Cortana and John were close. John, as team leader for operation: RED FLAG, had been assigned to carry the AI that would help them infiltrate Covenant systems. Cortana had been created for that mission, and John had been on a small obstacle course with her. That is, if being fired on by ODST's, being attacked by an air-strike, and being forced to go through an anti-tank mine field can be called an obstacle course. Sam had witnessed the event, and had started to respect Cortana, and even though he didn't want her in his head himself, he didn't mind her company. He turned his attention to Six, as she called herself. She was looking at what appeared to be the ship's schematics, likely memorising the layout. He didn't know what to think of her at all. On reach during their short walk to the landing pad, she had seemed like a nice person. She had even saved Linda's life without even asking about her injuries, without even a second thought. But he had seen her fight a Field-Marshal in hand-to-hand fighting when she ran out of ammo, and had won while the elite had an Energy-Sword, a fuel rod cannon, and had fought more savagely than he even expected of a brute. She had come out victorious, though she had received a slash across her visor for her fight, and she didn't look inclined to have it replaced. And with her laughing about a crewman's death, he found he couldn't figure out what she really was like as a person.

Then the ship was jolted, and he was snapped out of his thoughts.

"Report!" Keyes said.

"It must have been one of their boarding parties. I'd guess an anti-matter charge." Cortana said.

"Ma'am, fire control for the Main Cannon is offline."

Cortana's face soured. "Captain, the Cannon was my last defensive option."

The captain took on a resigned expression, "alright then. I'm initiating Cole protocol article two. We're abandoning the Autumn." He turned to the AI's avatar. "That means you too, Cortana."

"while you do what, go down with the ship?" Cortana asked with a quizzical look.

"In a matter of speaking." He turned to the odd construct hanging in front of the ship. Sam then first really noticed it. It was simply put a giant metal ring, likely thousands of kilometers in diameter. On the inner surface of the Ring, he noticed a landscape, mostly greens and blues and browns of water, hill-lands, and desert. "the object we've found, I'm gonna try and land the Autumn on it."

Cortana took on a frown. "With all due respect, sir, this war has _enough dead heroes_ ".

"I appreciate your concern, Cortana, but it's not up to me." Keyes began. "Protocol is clear. Destruction or capture of a shipboard AI is absolutely unacceptable. That means you're leaving the ship. Lock in a selection of emergency landing zones, upload them to my neural lace, and then sort yourself for a hard transfer." "Aye aye, sir" Cortana said, and her avatar winked from the pedestal.

Keyes then turned back to the Spartans "Which is where you come in, Spartans. Keep Cortana safe from the Covenant. If they Capture her, they'll learn everything. Force-deployments, weapons research..." Keyes paused for a moment. "Earth."

Sam, John and Linda nodded. They all knew the importance of Earth, now that Reach was gone. Reach was their military headquarters, and was on Earth's virtual doorstep. Now that Reach was gone, the only thing protecting Earth was the secrecy of the Cole protocol. "we understand, sir."

Cortana reappeared on the pedestal. "The Autumn will continue evasive maneuvers until you initiate a landing sequence. Not that you'll listen, but I'd suggest letting my subroutines handle the final approach."

Keyes nodded. "excellent work, Cortana. Thank you. Are you ready."

she looked around one last time, like someone looking one last time at her childhood home before it's being demolished. She then said "yank me".

Keyes pulled an AI chip out of the pedestal, and held it out to the Spartans. John took it, and inserted Cortana into his helmet. "Well" Six said as they left the bridge. "let's hope the Covenant haven't wrecked the pods yet."

* * *

Fol Katarn'ee entered the bridge of Ascendant Justice, and he was irritated.

He did understand why he was summoned, and he really couldn't blame the Fleetmaster, but it still irritated him. He was a Field-Marshal, he had only lost a fight once in his nearly 30 year campaign in the war, and he was more skilled than most of the Honor Guard of the High Prophets. He had personally killed 5 spartans, hundreds of the Coffin-soldiers called ODST's, thousands of the regular soldiers referred to as marines, and he had successfully completed over a hundred missions against the humans, sabotaging planetary defenses, stealing valuable research for his Clan, and having killed a not insignificant number of high-ranking humans. And his talent was being wasted talking with Fleetmasters.

Still, the Fleetmaster outranked him, and Fol had learned that this particular Fleetmaster was more practically-minded than most elites, who all were committed to this war for (in his mind) dogmatic superstition taught by false prophets.

He addressed the Fleetmaster with his name rather than his title, as he always did to test the Fleetmaster personally. "Thel Vadam'ee. Permission to make this discussion quick, and let me get on to end the humans before they become even more of a threat." There, he had said his intentions, and shown he, as some humans said, _wiped his ass_ with the religious ornamentations the majority of the Covenant was so fond of. Now it was up to the Fleetmaster whether Fol would follow his orders. If the Fleetmaster responded in kind, or ignored his lack of religious reverence to the leader of the Fleet, he would follow the Fleetmaster, but if Thel chose to take offense at that, he would ignore any orders he received, and fight the humans in his own way.

Thel turned towards him, and, to his surprise, actually walked towards Fol instead of staying on the command platform. "Fol Katarn'ee, you realize as much as I do that this matter needs... delicate handling, not just storming into like a wild pack of Jiralhanae. I realize you feel your talents are being wasted, and I sympathise, but I ask that you at least listen to me."

so Thel WAS as sensible as they claimed. He also knew what his troops thought, as he was once a Zealot that was engaged in field operations. Fol could respect that, and knew that Thel would do anything to save as many of his troops as he could. "I'll listen... as long as what you say is sensible."

"I'll be short: the Prophet of Stewardship claims the engagement with the humans is now a religious matter due to the Holy ring, but he will underestimate the humans, and can't properly handle the situation. We've both claimed superior Authority over the other, but High-Charity isn't responding to our Communications." Thel paused. "what the Prophet and I agree on, however, is that the Human ship must be boarded, for it may contain intelligence on the humans. I want your advice on this matter, and to tell me how to exactly to proceed."

Fol was slightly surprised. A Fleetmaster asking a Field-Marshal for advice? It didn't happen often. Then again, Fol had a nearly legendary reputation, and he had a lot of experience in taking a human ship. He even had taken a human Marathon-class heavy cruiser from the humans, and when the Prophets were done with the ship (which his clan members already knew was devoid of useful data) was added to his Clan's growing fleet.

"Has the Prophet already sent troops to board her?" he asked while he mused, knowing he needed to fill the time. "only a few scouting pods, but no full-scale assault yet." Thel responded.

"then deploy our Special Operations divisions. They're highly skilled, experienced, and will get us the ship intact. Focus the assault on 4 points: The engine room, to prevent them from manually destroying the engines and thereby the ship, the hanger bays and Drop-pod launch bays, to at least hurt as many soldiers and damage as much human equipment as possible before it leaves the ship, which is now inevitable anyway, and the bridge, for the human Captain will be there. Have Seraphs patrol near the escape pod launch bays so the pods can be picked off if they do launch." he paused. "have people you trust in charge of the assaults, not the Prophet's people."

Thel started to talk, but Fol cut him off. "as you said, the Prophet's people can't properly handle the situation. It's better if your own in charge." Thel nodded. "I agree. Which is why I want you to be in charge of the party assaulting the Bridge. If you reputation is even half true, you will handle the job extraordinarily well."

Fol nodded, pleased. So he would see some action after all.

"I'll prepare myself for the assault then. I'll have complete control of the ship in an hour." he turned to leave, but Thel called after him. "one more thing, so you have proper intel when you board the ship. We've intercepted multiple communications in the ship indicating 4 Spartans are aboard. ONE of them they recovered from the same Human Mass-driver cannon you were tasked to stop on Reach."

Fol tensed, more aware of the fresh scar across his right eye. The one he got from a Spartan. The reminder of his first ever failure.

"I'll be careful then." he said, and left the Bridge.

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 **There, the first chapter. I'll try to upload as many new chapters as fast as I can, but I still have school, and can't promise anything on a regular basis**

 **With kind regards**

 **Gharst Omenlumin**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello, readers. I've managed to post another chapter (as you likely can see), and I hope you enjoy it**

 **I own nothing beyond OC's**

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Chapter 2

"Covenant! On the landing above us!" She heard Cortana say.

She was growing tired of this. They had barely left the bridge, and they already had to fight through what felt like a battalion of Elites and Grunts. Every time after they had cleared an area, they couldn't move 10 meters without encountering more Covenant soldiers.

And they were becoming tougher too. While at first they only encountered regular minors and majors, they soon had to fight entire groups consisting solely of experienced Spec-ops soldiers. And they had a nasty habit of throwing grenades.

If she were on here own, she wouldn't have minded. It would have been a mere challenge at most, and she enjoyed those. But there were others traveling with her, and she had to look after them. It wasn't that they couldn't take care of themselves. They were Spartan-II soldiers, among the best the UNSC had to offer. But one of them, Linda she remembered her name was, was still recovering from her surgery.

She looked at Linda as they entered the room. She seemed to be holding up. But continuously fighting wasn't something she would recommend doing when she was still recovering from surgery.

Even a Spartan needed to rest, after all.

She scanned the room. A squad of marines, led by a dark-skinned Sergeant, were attempting to hold off a Covenant group from coming down the central stairway. The sergeant threw a grenade up over one of the ledges of the level above them, and was rewarded with a loud scream as 2 grunts flew back down, one with his face blown off from the grenade, the other bleeding in at least 6 places.

Six moved a bit further into the room, trying to see how many soldiers the Covenant had assigned to this area. She was rewarded with a hail of Plasma fire. She moved back into cover.

She turned to the others,who were spread around the staircase that dominated the room. "Did any of you see how many there were?" she asked. A marine next to her responded "I saw 6 elites and about a dozen Grunts before you arrived, ma'am. All had black armor."

Six nodded. Though odds, fighting 18 foes who have a tactical advantage. But it wasn't impossible.

"how many are there of you?" she heard linda ask the sergeant. "six of us here, ma'am. I send another squad away a few minutes ago to get munitions, but they haven't returned yet." he turned away "speaking of which" he tapped his comm-unit. "Stacker, what's your ETA, over."

"60 seconds, but we're being tailed by a spec-ops group, over." Six heard someone respond over the com. She heard some shooting in the background, and someone yell "man down!" over the com as a response.

"same here, but we've got a surprise for them. Get here on the double, and we'll cover you." the Sergeant said before turning to Linda. "dear killing machine" the sergeant started with a falsely innocent voice. "would you kindly blow up the elites shooting our backup, and send them back to hell?" John walked up behind the Sergeant. "where will your team enter the room?" he asked.

The Sergeant pointed to the door behind the staircase. Sam was covering us from there, shooting any grunts that popped out with an Assault rifle. "there, but what will you do?"

John nodded to me, then gestured towards one of pillars next to the door. I nodded, understanding his plan. John hit the com. "Sergeant, this is Sierra-117. As soon as you see the doorway leading the staircase, sprint through as fast as you can. We'll cover you as your pursuit comes through."

"Roger" was the sole response.

Six moved behind the pillar, with John taking the other one. "Sam, as soon as the marines return, move up the stairs. Shoot anything you see that isn't human." "Sure. Need me to save some for you, or just take them out?" Sam asked.

"Just take them out." John turned to the marines and the dark skinned sergeant. "marines, you assist with the assault on the Stairwell. We'll cover your back-up."

The Sergeant nodded. "you heard him, marines. We'll give this TIHF cover while he saves our asses." the troopers all yelled their affirmatives.

"What's a TIHF?" I asked.

A marine, the same one that gave them the hostile troop count she noticed, said "Tank in Human Form, ma'am." I chuckled. That they certainly were.

She looked down the hallway. By her count they still had 15 seconds before the party came to them. But she could already see some marines sprinting their way in the distance.

And, as John correctly predicted, the Covenant noticed this and started to sprint after them, and started to catch up. I looked to John and Linda, who had both taken cover behind a pillar, both ready with the shotguns they'd found in the armory. Linda held out 3 fingers, then 2, then one, and as soon as her fist dropped, the marines sprinted through. As expected, the Covvies, consisting of 4 spec-ops elites, were right on their heels.

They were also in the worst position to be ambushed from.

Six jumped out, shooting two of them with 2 M6D pistols, and both their shields dropped after 8 well-placed shots. They turned to her, but Linda and John finished them off with 2 shotgun blasts in their backs. The other 2 had were turning to them, but Six sticked one with a plasma grenade on the back, kicked him in the heel to unbalance him, and jumped on top of the last one standing. He tried to throw her off, but she quickly stuck her knife in his shoulder, and was rewarded with blood gushing out of the wound as she removed it. She had his an artery, then. He wouldn't life long anymore. She jumped off, and looked left to see if the other elite was still standing. She saw that he was attempting to run up the stairwell, attempting to reinforce his comrades no doubt. But the grenade went off before he could even reach the top. He was blasted back down, lifeless.

Six motioned to the marine reinforcements, and they all walked up the stairwell as a group, John in front, Linda and the 4 remaining marines in the middle, and me covering the rear. But we were too late for the party. All she saw were dead Covenant soldiers, and Sam and the marines standing tall above the corpses, like some cheesy propaganda/recruitment poster.

"Cortana, can you please record this image?" she heard Linda ask while she policed the corpses for ammo.

"alright. Want me to file that as mission info or happy memories?" Cortana joked.

"happy memories. Your kids will love that in the future, their daddy killing monsters." I returned.

"were you a bully as a kid? Would fit your current personality" John asked.

I turned to him, and said "no, I was the kid who was fascinated with mental asylums, and who gave the inmates a hard time on purpose." I responded.

She heard laughter behind her, and turned to find the sergeant and the one she presumed was Stacker doubling over. "looks like you were right at home with them." the dark-skinned sergeant said.

I looked at him, and asked "What's your name? I want to know the men I like to kill Elites with." she could see his name on his armor, but liked to hear these things from her men themselves.

"Staff-Sergeant Avery Junior Johnson, ass-kicker since 2525, at your service." he said.

"well, Johnson, get your kill-count above 300 and we'll talk." I said.

"I'll see you ringside, then." he said.

John, Linda, Sam and I moved on, and for once found no resistance for a long time. After 15 minutes, we found what we were looking for.

"an intact Bumblebee escape pod up ahead" Cortana said.

We sprinted to it from there, and were about to enter, when my Motion-Tracker went haywire.

"hold up." I said. The others looked at me, but at least they stopped.

On Reach she had a lot of run-ins with Stealth Elites, and although they were invisible, she had learned of 2 ways to detect them. One was to look at them in infrared, which their Camo-systems actually radiated, and that motion-Trackers went haywire when they were close by.

She looked in the pod, and then both directions down the hallway. She spotted shimmers back the way they came.

A lot of shimmers.

"Stealth units back in the hallway. Too many to count." I explained.

"then they're too many to fight in close quarters." John said. He then looked behind her, having spotted the shimmers as well.

"I think now is an excellent time to leave, don't you think? Just go in." Cortana said.

They did, and Six moved into the pilot seat.

"strap in, for this will be bumpy." Six said. She launched the pod, aimed it at the ring, and set it on autopilot. She opened a private comm to Linda. "how are you holding up?"

"so far, it's... tolerable" Linda said, and Six detected it sounded like it came through gritted teeth.

Six nodded. That wasn't good. Most spartans can shrug off most forms of pain... for a time. For Linda to admit it was bothering her, and she was, saying it like she did, then the pain must be getting to her.

She reopened the channel. "Get a medpack. I'll need to look at the wounds later, but you need the painkillers. Doctor's orders." Six looked in the reflection of the viewport, and saw her move to the medpack near the exit of the pod. Good. She would live for another few hours. At least until Six had a better look.

Six wondered when that would be.

So far so good.

Fol had been one of the first to board the vessel. He had personally selected the team he would take with him, and had rammed their boarding vessel straight through one of the escape pods near the bridge. He was the first to emerge, and headed straight for the bridge. He and his team, each of which he considered to be worthy enough to become zealots, had just come to an intersection that lead to the bridge. And they temporarily stopped there. One side lead through an armory, where they saw marines had holed up. The other side went through a mess-hall. Where the there were less soldiers, but they had a lot more cover.

Fol looked at hi spec ops soldiers, and said "we split up, I will take down those in the armory, you take down those in the mess hall. We'll meet on the other side."

"sure you don't require assistance? They both outnumber AND outgun you in case you forgot." one of the soldiers said. He noted his name, N'tho Sraom. He was competent, skilled, and knew when it was time to be pragmatic instead of religious.

"maybe. But a demon wouldn't be stopped by that. I can take them. If I take longer about clearing the room than all of you do, go to the bridge without me, and look for the Captain." Fol said. He held up a hologram of what the average human Captain looked like.

"If the Captain ain't present, move on and inspect which human Escape pods have launched. Track them to their crash sites, and send me the coordinates." the elites acknowledged, and they moved into the mess-hall.

Fol rolled his shoulders. Now it was his turn. He grabbed a plasma grenade with one hand, and gripped one of his plasma rifles in the other. He keyed the door to open, and rounded the corner to take some distance between him and the bullets the humans were inevitable to fire.

The door opened and, as predicted. The humans fired a rain of bullets at the new opening in the room. He waited for it to die down, then primed the grenade and threw it into the general direction the most of the fire came from. He closed the door to protect himself from the blast. He heard a bang, some human screams, which displeased him, and then silence. He keyed the door to open again, and entered the room, firing with his plasma rifle. He hit 3 of the 16 soldiers still standing before they even had time to react, and Fol ducked behind one of the barriers they erected near his entrance to the room.

He glanced around the corner to his cover, and saw most of the soldiers were behind cover as well, and in a reflection he saw they had shotguns in hand in case he emerged. So they expected him to come out and just let himself be hit. Their mistake, and most likely their downfall.

He holstered his plasma rifle, and instead grabbed his energy swords. He then jumped over both his own barrier and the one a group of soldiers were hiding behind. They weren't prepared for him to come at them from above, and with one swipe he killed 4 of them. He then stormed to the second barrier. The soldiers there stood in shock as they had witnessed how quickly he had taken care of their allies. They tried to raise their rifles, but he sliced them into pieces before they could fire a shot. He decapitated one of them, stabbed another through the head, and kicked both of them into their allies, knocking them down. He threw a grenade at one of them, and moved on to the final group of 5 soldiers. They were the ones he spotted earlier, the ones wielding shotguns. He jumped straight at them, and immediately slashed at one of their rifles. It broke in 2, and the soldier lost his hands because he held them too close to the swords when it happened. He went down, screaming in agony. Fol then threw his swords at 2 of the others, and they were pinned against the walls behind them. When the plasma grenade he threw at the previous group finally went off, their bodies flew past him, and one of them hit one of the humans, knocking him down. Fol turned to the last one, who fired a blast at him now that he didn't have to worry about friendly fire. He couldn't know that his energy shields were 4 times as strong as that of a minor, and he could just shrug the blast off. When the human looked at the elite, who he likely expected to fall down after only one blast, he looked in shock, freezing for a moment.

One that he shouldn't have wasted. Fol grabbed him by the neck, held him in the air, and said in their language "may your own gods have mercy on your soul.". It was the only Eulogy he knew the humans gave to their own (the only one he witnessed anyway), and then he activated the energy dagger in his gauntlet, and stabbed the soldier, before tossing him aside.

He looked around, and saw only 2 humans left alive: the one that lost his hands, and the one that had been knocked down by a corpse. He grabbed his swords, stabbed the one that had no hands, putting him out of his misery. He spotted the other crawling towards the door, and Fol grabbed him by his leg. He held him high, and asked in his language "what do you wish to achieve by warning your fellow soldiers? You will achieve nothing with it. What is your name?".

Pure psychological torture, to demoralize the human. Not that it served any other purpose. He didn't enjoy it at all, for he respected and admired the human tenacity. Their skill their courage. Their will to fight on when they faced extinction. But it would warn them that he wouldn't stop. That he wouldn't rest, and that he would win inevitably.

"Chips Dubbo, split-face. And just finish it, would yah?" the human responded. Fol noted the odd accent, likely what the humans called 'Australian', and told him "oh, you'll live. And please do warn your brethren that your resistance is futile." he threw the human to the door he entered through, careful he wasn't knocked unconscious, and exited through the other door.

He saw the others were just exiting the mess hall, and praised them for their skill. "well done, warriors. But our objective isn't reached yet. Come."

After a few turns they entered the bridge, and saw it was deserted. He headed for the main human display, searching. Ah, there. The pedestal an AI's data-chip always resided in. He looked at it

It was empty.

Most likely taken by the Spartans, he thought. Theirs was the only variation of human armor capable of carrying an AI. But his objective was the human captain. He motioned to another elite. "Usze, hack their cameras from here, find out which pod their captain took, and track it's descent onto the ring."

the elite nodded, and went on with his task. After a few minutes he said "done. He went into pod 05. It landed in this approximate area." so the captain is likely alive. That was good. "Good. N'tho, you are in charge. Your objective is to secure the bridge. Mine is to retrieve the human Captain." They nodded.

He left them to it, and headed for the escape pods, specifically the one Keyes took. He rounded the corner to the hallway, and saw a bloodbath.

There were many corpses, many of which were human. There were a few Sangheili among them. And it was all centered around pods 04, 05 and 06. So they were assigned to guard the Captain's pod, and they paid a heavy price. He looked at the other pods. One of them was wrecked, and judging from the charred corpses inside likely used as cover by the humans before someone tossed a plasma grenade inside. He moved on to the other pod.

This one was still mostly intact, and upon closer inspection still operable. He sent a code to the fleet why his particular pod was to be left intact, and he launched it, heading after the Captain's pod.

He was surprised when the human ship started to overtake him. He keyed his Com unit, and asked "N'tho, why is the cruiser accelerating?".

"An automated landing sequence put in by the AI. It's too advanced for us to disable it. We have informed the fleet about this, and they are sending troops to secure the Crash-site."

Fol nodded. "keep me informed. And advice the leader of those securing the site that it stays secured.". He thought about what he would do, if he were stranded like the humans were, and knew that he would come back to the ship for supplies. "the Humans may come back to the ship for a supply run. Have it guarded with their lives"

"Of course, Field-Marshal." N'tho responded, before signing out. Fol then prepared, as the pod would land soon. He strapped in, but didn't feel confident it would hold.

But it didn't need to. In the end he only felt a slight bump as it landed, before it started sliding before a slight jolt. Then it stopped. He unstrapped himself by simply standing up. He broke the seat with it, but he didn't care. He had a goal. And he would complete it. He exited the the pod, and saw he had ended up into hill-lands. In the distance he saw the pod, and headed for it in case the Captain died in the Crash.

What he found was... odd. The corpse of an Ossoona lay before it, and it had been stripped of weapons. Fol checked the helmet systems, for Ossoona's had more integrated helmet systems in order to record everything, and report it back to the San'Shyuum. It didn't provide anything new, just that the Captain himself had shot the Ossoona. Fol pocketed the recordings and everything else the San'Shyuum might value, and looked around.

There. A trail, leading away from the pod. And, in the distance, a group of humans at it's end point. Fol took the Ossoona's Active Camouflage systems, activated them, and ran towards them.

He got close enough to hear them arguing. "I submit that we've done all we could reasonably be expected to do, that the longer we delay the harsher the Covenant will be. It makes sense to surrender now." he heard someone, likely a female, say. "and you are an IDIOT" he heard another, also female, respond. He chuckled, amused by their argument.

It was overheard by the marines, of course, and everyone raised their weapons. He uncloaked himself. "foolish human" he said to the one he overheard, walking into their midst as he did so, giving them the illusion of having him in an effective crossfire. "We only take the ones we value. You ain't among them.".

He then fired the plasma rifle he'd discreetly grabbed during his approach. He shot at the marines first, shooting 3 of them and scattering the rest. He grabbed his sword with his other hand, and slashed someone attacking him from behind, the one claiming one of them was an idiot. He saw 2 of the officers running away, one of them covering the one the other. He fired twice, and both fell. He turned, and saw the 4 marines had gathered around the surviving Captain. He got an idea. "why continue fighting, when you face extinction? You won't gain anything but death." he said while he discreetly walked over to one of the marine corpses. He knelt, holstered his sword, and grabbed the dog-tags and, without the humans seeing, one of their 'fragmentation grenades'. "bastards like you wouldn't understand." one of the soldiers said.

Fol had what he needed, and threw the grenade into their midst. It wasn't primed, of course. He wanted the Captain alive, after all. But the soldiers didn't know that, and they scattered like insects. They each dived in another direction. He shot each of the soldiers in the head before walking towards the captain. He grabbed hum by the neck, and keyed his comm. "To all nearby Covenant forces, this is Field-Marshal Fol Katarn'ee. I have the human captain, and require extraction."

"this is pilot Narsk Orthelk'ee. I'm en-route with a Spirit. I'll arrive in 5 minutes."

"understood." Fol said before turning his comm-unit off. He turned to the captain.

"I'm sure you'll be interrogated later, but I want an answer to one question now." he said before holding the Captain higher.

"Where are the Spartans?"

* * *

 **I hope you enjoyed that.**

 **hope I'll get another chapter out soon.**

 **With kind regards**

 **Gharst Omenlumin**


	3. Chapter 3

**Greetings fellow lifeforms. My name is Gharst, and I've found enough time to give you guys that are reading, following and favouriting this story another chapter. I hope I am doing a good job at writing this FanFiction, because (to be honest) this is the first one I've ever written. I have this story, and what follows, already planned out, but if any of you fellow scum have a good idea, I would gladly add it to this, or the next story.**

 **I would still like reviews. as usual (and unfortunately) I don't own Halo, 343 Industries does**

* * *

Chapter 3

They were just entering atmosphere when the pod had a jolt. And an escape pod having a jolt before actually landing was almost never a good sign. She checked the pod readouts, and they weren't good. Airbrakes were deployed early, as were the front thrusters built in to reduce speed just before landing. That wasn't good, as they would have nothing once they were about to land. They weren't going to come out of this unscathed.

If alive at all.

"alright, slight problem." Six said.

"What kind of problem?" John asked.

"Airbrakes and counter-thrusters have deployed early. We won't have anything when we land. Or crash, as it will be quite violent."

"Will we survive?"

She was silent for a moment. Linda was still recovering from surgery, and was her responsibility both as her teammate and as her patient. Fighting aboard the Autumn while recovering was bad enough, and with a violent crash-landing coming up, she just didn't dare risk it. "Yes, though I would like to reexamine Linda afterwards. Just in case."

"Affirmative." was Linda's response.

Six paused, then looked down the viewport. They were landing on the ring, as the 2 planetoids the ring hung between were gas giants, and they had no safe crash sites. The other planetoids were too far away to reach. She saw quite a beautiful landscape, filled with valleys, hill-lands, and oceans. It reminded her of pictures she'd seen on earth.

But it was coming up incredibly fast.

She tried to say the word "Brace", but was knocked out before she managed a word.

* * *

"Where are the Spartans?"

Keyes was surprised, to say the least. He hadn't expected the horned elite to take out his troops so fast. And so efficiently. The fight had barely lasted half a minute, and he was already the last one alive of his group. He thought of the crew that travelled with him. Hikowa, Lovell, the whining Dowski, Hall, Dominique, the marines... All of them dead. Trying to protect him.

And the elite responsible wasn't even after him.

He laughed, deciding to mock the bastard. He needed to keep the spartans, and Cortana, safe. "Why them, when you have me? The Captain of the humans. You don't need them."

The elite tilted his head, then drew him closer, likely trying to intimidate him. "Two reasons, human. For one, one of them has the AI assigned to your ship. And that AI likely has a lot of useful information. Oh, and don't look so surprised. We have had multiple encounters with them, even if we failed to capture any of them.". The elite then gestured to his eye, which Keyes noticed had a scar across it. "For another, one of them stabbed me in the eye. Missed my brain and major blood vessels by a few millimeters. I would like to talk to her about it. Unlike most of my brethren, I respect a Spartan's skill, and know they aren't to be underestimated."

Keyes remembered something as he heard the second point: the report from the Spartan-II that had saved the last member of Noble-team. And that an Field-Marshal had led the zealots defending the cannon. Could this be the same one?

"I won't give you the answer you want." Keyes said, determined to keep it secret that he in fact didn't have a clue where they were.

The elite, however, seemed to realize this. "I believe you." he said.

Keyes didn't see the elite raising his fist to knock him out, or the the punch that did so.

* * *

John was the first to wake up, and that was only because Cortana was yelling in his ear.

"Chief, WAKE UP".

He was instantly on his feet. He looked around. Sam and Linda were scattered around the floor of the pod, their buckles failing to secure the weight of them in Mjolnir armor. Six was in the pilot seat, slumped over the controls, but starting to move. So she was waking up too. "what happened?" he asked Cortana.

"just as Six said, you had a rough landing. You, Sam and Six have no serious injuries, but Linda's bio-readings are starting to get into the red zone."

"Move, dammit." Six then said, shooting straight out of the seat and pushing John out of the way the moment she heard Linda's status.

She removed Linda's chest piece, and looked at the wounds. They weren't bleeding, so it were likely an internal injury.

"Will she live?" John asked. Linda had taken a lot of hits while moving back into their evac pelican. 5 overcharged plasma pistol shots to be precise. He had managed to get her to the Autumn, expecting to find medics ready on standby, but found the bay deserted except for another pelican landing with Sam and the new one, Six. When he told the Deck officer on duty of Linda's condition, Six had practically shoved him out of the way, grabbed a med-kit from his pelican, and started patching her up. Six turned out to be an experienced combat surgeon, and only her intervention had saved Linda's life.

And he was damned if they lost her now just because of a mere bad landing.

"I can save her, but I'll need a secure area in order to operate on her. And given how violent our entry was, I think the Covenant will come make this place _un_ secure. And as much as I'd love to tackle a few elites, I'd rather save her life." Six said.

John nodded. So they needed a safe place to stabilize her. He looked at Sam, who was just getting up. "Sam, grab as much weapons and ammo as you can find, then scout out the immediate area. Find us a place where Six can operate on Linda, preferably as far away from the pod as possible. Report back in two unless you spot the Covenant before that."

"aye, aye, Cap'n" Sam said in a pirate like voice. That was one of the things John liked about him. During the entire war, Sam had held on to his sense of humor, and had even extended it to some others beside the Spartan-II's, like Halsey, Mendez, and, considering his and Six's conversation after Six tackled an elite while he and the others moved back instead, Six now as well. Sam was his best friend, and if he trusted the new spartan after a single encounter, he decided he would give the new one a chance too.

He didn't realize he even had doubts about the new spartan until he squashed them a few moments ago.

Sam moved to go on with his task. John headed for the controls. "and where are you off to?" Six asked.

"Checking the comms to see if friendly forces landed nearby. See if they have a safe place for you to operate at." Six nodded before turning back to tending to Linda.

He keyed the comm. "This is Sierra-117. We've landed on the ring and have wounded. Does anyone copy." there was a long silence, and he was about to try again, when "This is sergeant Johnson. I'm down about a click from your position. We've got wounded as well, but we're currently on a structure. Come to us, and we'll cover you."

"Roger. Send a waypoint, and we'll come to you."

"See you there." Johnson said before he keyed off.

John moved back from the controls. Before he could utter a word, she said "I heard that, and we can reach them. Provided we move fast.". John nodded. "I'll carry her, you clear the path ahead, and Sam will cover the rear." Sam reentered the pod. "the waterfall's a dead end, and a narrow bridge is our only option. I saw a valley on the other side, and a structure in the distance." he said. "That's our goal." John responded. "Marines led by Johnson are down near that structure. They can provide Six with the cover she needs to save Linda. I'll carry her. You cover our rear, six our front, and we'll move fast."

They all nodded. Six picked up her assault rifle, and they moved as one towards the structure.

They arrived after a few minutes without trouble. Johnson and a few marines greeted them as they arrived. "Through here, spartans." one of the marines said as he carried Linda towards the structure. They walked up a ramp, and entered an alcove on top of it. John noted that a blue flash went up from the structure. He would let Cortana worry about it. For now he had to focus on the task at hand.

"this is the place that has the most cover, sirs, ma'am". John lay her down, and no sooner was Linda on the ground and Six began working on her. Sam looked over at the scene as he covered their rear. "how long?" Sam asked.

"the treatment? At least 15 minutes." Six responded. "her recovery? Most doctors recommend at least a month bedrest, but I think that she'll be able to handle it much better after about a day without combat. Provided all Covvies miss any shot they take at her of course."

John nodded, and was about to thank her, when Cortana warned them "Alert, Spirits inbound. They've detected the pod's signal. They're moving in to flank us."

Six turned to John, and he and Sam immediately understood: keep them away while I patch her up.

He turned to Sam, and Johnson, spotting the glance as well, said "alright, people. Keep those covie bastards away from the lady while she patches up her friend. She might even buy us a drink afterwards." "only when your kill-count is over 300!" Six yelled out.

Sam laughed. "I'm at 528, so do I get a drink?" he asked jokingly.

"Only if you pay for the food." she joked back. John thought he detected a hint of wishful thinking though. John made a mental note to ask her about it later.

"You've got a deal" Sam said.

They moved out, and Sam, Johnson, and John prepared the defense of the structure.

* * *

It all went straight to hell after a few minutes.

Sam had thought it would be easy to defend the structure, and give Six the time she needed to operate on Linda. But he should have known the Covenant never made things easy. They had been deploying troops continuously ever since they started their attack, first starting with a few grunts, but later on they dropped the whole shebang: Elites, Jackals and Hunters had been assaulting them non-stop. He and John each covered one of the two was they could enter the valley, and the marines were dispersed in between to cover the other 2 sides. They had even received reinforcements twice when Johnson sent out a general call for all nearby survivors to regroup at their location. But the Covenant overwhelmed them by sheer numbers.

Sam was pinned down, and he and a marine named Jenkins were firing at a pair of elites when Cortana sounded over his comm "alright, good news and bad news. The good news is that the Spirits stopped coming, and the captain is alive and survived the crash. Also, Major Silva has Captured a butte with some structures, and has established a base of operations for us. The bad news is that the Covenant have Captured the entire command group. If we can locate Keyes and the other survivors, we'll have a chance of coordinating an effective resistance."

"One thing at a time, Cortana." Sam said. "let's focus on our own survival for a few moments. Six, how long until you're done with saving Linda?"

"Wounds are tended to. I'm putting everything away, and- No, LAY DOWN. You ain't ready to fight yet." a pause. Linda was awake, then. "no, you need to rest or- Oh, for the love of..." Sam then hear a lot of expletives from Six. Some of which he didn't know how she knew of them, and a lot he didn't even know himself. Then Six reopened the channel. "Linda insists on fighting alongside us. Are there any nearby sniping locations?"

Sam wasn't surprised. Linda always insisted on helping. "nothing he that she can reach" he said over the comm. "I see a small ledge east of the structure he heard John say. "you head there, and keep hidden until you can shoot them without being seen. Six, you go assist Sam. I'll cover Linda from here on." they all winked their status lights green.

He prepared to throw a few grenades to cover Six, but he saw it wasn't needed. She picked up a plasma pistol from a grunt that had died trying to storm the structure, and used it to take down the shields of the elite pinning down the elites, then shot him in the head with a pistol. Elites started to storm up their ramp, but six just started to laugh. "Get in line, split-faced scum. I've got a lot more for each of you." she then stormed them, throwing a plasma grenade at their lead, and shooting him in the legs to slow him down. She then threw a frag grenade the moment when the plasma grenade went off, and the elites, their shields drained by the first grenade, were killed by the blast. This caused a temporary pause on their side of the structure, the Covvies on their side regrouping

Sam was starting to figure her out. At least he thought he did. She was serious about saving anyone she could, and determined to do so at that. But all pain, sorrow and death, be it a Covvie or human, she considered something that needed to be made fun of. Likely a way to get on with all that had happened during the war. But what it was specifically that made her this way, he couldn't tell.

He was snapped out of his thoughts when he saw a line of jackals advancing, their shields overlapping each other. He threw a grenade to make a hole in the line, but ducked back into cover as the entire line decided he was the ideal target. He opened a comm to Six "care to lend a hand? I'm pinned down, got a grenade with a jackal drawn on it, and I want to feed it to them."

"sure, only if you kill the elites at the back of the line, for I'm too far out of range to hit them."

"deal."

"on two. One-"

"what happened to three?"

"I ran out of bloody patience."

"alright. TWO!" he yelled over the comm, and sure enough, she jumped out and fired at the slowly advancing line, drawing their attention away from him. He threw a grenade at the line, and at least 6 of the damn birds, or reptiles or whatever they were, were caught in the blast. The elites at the back attempted to reform the line, but he fired his Assault rifle at them. He only killed one before they focused on him, and with coordinated fire downed his shields in 5 seconds, and hit his shoulder pretty bad. He managed to find cover before he was hit worse.

He then looked around, and found he was OUTSIDE the perimeter the marines had set up around the structures. And he was surrounded by the remaining Covenant force. NOT good.

He was about to call for help when he heard something he thought he'd never hear.

The sound of a pelican firing it's chain guns.

He looked above his cover, and saw that a pelican was flying circles around the structure, killing Covvies as it did so. He saw Six coming down the ramp leading up the structure, and together they finished off the last of the elites, Six ramming her knife in one, Sam punching the last one in the neck, breaking it. "this side's clear." Johnson called over the radio. "clear at north and east. How about you two?" John called over the comm.

Sam keyed his comm. "I have enough time to clean my armor of elite blood, so I think clear." he said.

"Good" John said. He turned to the survivors, 12 in total "Marines, into the pelican. We won't know when they'll come back."

the marines started to head for the pelican, but when they took too long, Johnson said "Come on, hustle. We ain't paid by the hour."

That got them moving. Sam watched, and waited until they were all aboard, then he entered himself. He turned to John, who was standing in the cockpit. He seemed to be having a conversation with the pilot. Then he heard a voice he didn't expect.

"Hey, heavylifter! Long time no see!" Carol Rawley, AKA Foehammer, the same pilot that picked him and Six up from Reach, said over the Comm. Sam responded. "Nice to see Keyes kept the best in reserve for us! Still up for that round of target practice you wanted?"

"Sure! If you can find the targets before I can." Foehammer joked.

"Oh, I'll get them first" Linda joked, and Sam, John and Foehammer laughed in response.

Six sat down on the edge of the ramp, being the last one to enter the dropship. She looked at the structure one last time, and then lay down on the deck, seemingly nodding off to sleep. Sam stepped over to her, and tapped her with his boot to get her attention. "Now that we seem to be headed somewhere safe, would you like to tell us your story?"

"Why?" Six asked, confused. "What do you want to know?"

Six then obviously wasn't used to work in a team. He tried again

"we'll likely be working together more often, and I'd like to know a bit about the other members on my team."

Six seemed to ponder that. "On one condition: you and the other spartans tell me your stories. A tale for a tale."

"Fair enough."

John then walked back into the troop bay. "we'll be headed to Alpha base, and join Major Silva and his ODST's. ETA 1 hour, so get some sleep while you can." he said.

Sam nodded, and sat down on one of the chairs between Johnson and a marine named Bisenti. After 30 seconds he slept soundly.

* * *

Six looked one more time at the spartans, then turned back to the view.

For the first time since boarding the Autumn, she was alone. Most of the men, including the Spartan-II's, were sleeping, and the crew of the pelican were busy flying them to the base.

She wondered, for the first time since Reach, hell, likely even before that, what she would be like if she were a civilian. It wasn't something that usually bothered her, but time spent undercover among various insurrectionist factions had shown her how civilians lived. And she didn't mind the freedoms they'd had.

Most UNSC personnel had no idea what spartans were like, either not encountering them at all, too afraid to socialize with them, or in the case of ODST's like Silva, hating them. But Six knew, unlike other spartans what she didn't have: a family, a personal cause for the war, friends she kept contact with for more than 3 weeks. It rather depressed her when she didn't have anything to do but think.

But she would fight on, if only because the Spartan-II's would do so as well.

She looked at them again. They seemed rather social among themselves, especially the big one called Sam. But they were all very different from her. More... she didn't know what they had, only that they seemed less damaged by the war. Less demoralized. Then again, she didn't think they had Eidetic memory like she did. They probably wouldn't remember everything in the war EXACTLY as it happened. Not that she doubted their memory, but even Spartans sometimes forgot something, or recalled it only vaguely.

Like their past before the program.

But she wouldn't think about her own time before Camp Currahee. It had too many bad moments to her liking.

She decided to follow the Master Chief's advice, secured herself in the last empty chair, and nodded off.

* * *

 **A/N: There, another Chapter. next stop: Alpha base, Six and the survivors of Blue-team (It's how I refer to John, Linda, Six and Sam from here on out) get to know each other better, Silva and Six have a yell-down, and rescue from Truth and Reconciliation. Don't worry, Fol will make an appearance, and a certain spec-ops elite from Halo: the Flood finally shows up as well**

 **With kind regards**

 **Gharst Omenlumin**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/U: Hello, fellow Denizens. I'm Sorry this Chapter took longer, but I promised a few things in the last Chapter, and they took a lot more to write than I initially expected. I have compensated it a bit by making the chapter longer, so you guys have more content to read. I have intended this chapter as mostly one for Character development, but also a bit of action to compensate. I will be honest, and say I am surprised by how many followers has gained in barely a week despite the fact that the release of Halo 5 is over 2 months back. I truly appreciate it. What I am sorry for is that I haven't had any reviews yet. I would really like some, so that I can see where I can Improve in my writing, and What any of you guys want. I would also like to know what you guys like best: Like this a long chapter with longer intervals between them, or less time between chapters, but they're shorter?**

 **As Usual, I don't own the Halo Universe, 343 Industries does**

* * *

Chapter 4

It was nearly dusk by the time they arrived at Alpha base.

The pelican landed on one of several landing pads Alpha base possessed, and Six was impressed by the defenses Silva had already managed to place around it. It already had 50mm autocannons spread around the perimeter, and there were marines put on guard on all landing pads. Six also saw warthogs patrolling out in the distance when she stepped out of the pelican.

She continued to observe the base even as she and the others were escorted inside. An ODST escorted them to a pair of small rooms, and said to them. "These will be your rooms. We'd give you private ones, but we're still receiving survivors, and we're slowly running out of rooms to assign them to. Hell, you guys are lucky you don't all got assigned to the same room."

Six decided to speak for the group. "They'll do, ma'am. Thank you."

Though Six technically outranked the ODST, Six had long had respect for ODST's, even if it often wasn't returned. She was impressed by their courage to jump from orbit in what was essentially a glorified coffin. She had experienced worse, being thrown from a Covenant Corvette in orbit above Reach, but even she recognized that being an ODST wasn't something everyone could be.

The ODST held out her hand "I'm lieutenant Mckay. Silva will be ready for you by morning, so get relaxed. I'll get someone to pick you all up when he's ready."

Six nodded, and the First Lieutenant moved off. Before she could move to either room, John motioned them all into one of the rooms. "Alright, since we have some time on our hands, let's have Sam's 'tale for tale'." I nodded, and moved into the room.

The room was quite... spartan. All it had were a bunk, if a piece of metal suspended by chains bolted to the wall could be called that, a small crate doing double duty as a chair and a data pedestal. Six recognized all of them as equipment scavenged from the Autumn, but she had no idea why Silva had a data pedestal put in their quarters.

John moved to the pedestal, and put Cortana's data chip into the slot. Her avatar appeared on the holographic display. "So," she began, looking at Six. "who goes first? You or the others?"

"Let's start with names." Sam said. "It would be weird if we just kept calling each other spartan for the rest of our stay. Still deciding to stay with Six?" He looked at her.

"Yep. Can't come up with a good alias, and my name's classified by orders of Section Three."  
"I'm not even gonna ask." Cortana said.

"Nope. You'll snoop in what's left of their data bases, and try to figure it out yourself."

"That's about right."

Six started to smirk at that. "Only to discover that the only files about me are pictures of paper documents, and that my name, and a lot else, has been blacked out with ink"

Linda sat straighter at that. "really? Your entire past blotted out with ink? I'm jealous." Six laughed at that. "I'm Linda-058 by the way. Our team's sniper, as you likely figured out."

"Pleasure meeting you."

I'm Samuel-034, this team's heavy weapons expert, but I'd like it to be just Sam for short." Sam introduced himself. "I don't exactly love my full name."

"Ok... Samuel" Six said, taking care to pronounce his full name jokingly.

"Oh, bite me." he responded.

"Nah, you don't taste that good." Six joked back.

"And I'm John-117." John said before the jokes could escalate. "Team leader,the Lucky one and Cortana's carrier."

"And I certainly don't need an introduction." Cortana said.

"Nope" Six said. "Blue, female, sarcastic. I guess you are Cortana."

"Yes. But that does leave the question unanswered: Who'll start first?

Six decided to take the initiative in the conversation.

"I'll start. I can't tell you a lot due to most of what I did is highly classified, but I'll give you a summary of my past. I was born on Jericho VII on December 30th, 2526. I was considered gifted at an early age, for multiple reasons. I could measure in a very precise way when most children could barely count to ten. I have an Eidetic memory, and Heterochromia iridum."

"Really?" Cortana asked.

"What does it mean exactly?" Sam asked. "I know something is different with your eyes due to it, but I don't know what"

"It means my eyes are different colors." Six said. "Anyway, I was a fighter even then, learning Karate, Kickboxing, Kung Fu and Sword fighting. I sometimes watched old classic movies, like _Crouching tiger, hidden dragon_ from the 20th or 21st century, _the life of a ninja_ from the 24th and a Chinese movie in mandarin I couldn't read about sword fighting and moral philosophies from the 22th. Hell, I practiced the moves from those movies, and improved my own from them. At age nine, the planet was attacked by the Covenant attacked the planet, and-"

"We know the specifics." John interrupted. "We were all there. Sam led us on that op."

"I even saved a little girl." Sam said, and somehow Six knew he was smiling.

Six looked up, and saw he indeed had similar armor as the one that led the UNSC forces there. She didn't know why she didn't notice it before, but decided not to dwell on it.

"What I was actually gonna say," Six continued "was that I already knew a little about the Covenant. My parents tried to hide it from me and my sister, but I managed to eavesdrop anyway."

She paused for a bit, and then continued. "I wasn't prepared for them, though, and I saw my family being murdered by an elite wearing Field-Marshal Armor."

She saw both Cortana and Sam look up at that, though Six knew it was likely for different reasons. Sam had seen her attack a Field-Marshal, and she had savagely attacked him, to the point of nearly running straight into it's energy sword.

As for Cortana, Field-Marshals were rarely seen on the battlefield, and all sightings of them were considered high-profile.

Six decided to continue. "I didn't know why he spared just me out of all of the others present on the street. But it looked at me, and instead of shooting me like the others it had me captured."

She thought back to her family, even though she didn't want to. Her mother, Victoria, shot in the head by a Needler, with the round exiting through the back of her head. Her father, Thomas, neck broken and spine shattered, thrown across the street by the explosion of a fuel rod cannon round. Her sister, Ilsa, found dead as Six ran back to the city through a forest, her body charred and a piece of her skull missing at her forehead, with her brains clearly visible.

It were awful memories, and she didn't really want to relive them like other memories, but sometimes they still came. Most often they came when she slept, sometimes when she was recovering in a medical bay, or when she saw a happy family walking around.

She pushed the thoughts out of her mind, and continued. "They took me to an alien structure, and had me guarded. They made the mistake, however, of having me guarded by grunts" Six paused, reliving the moments with both grief and joy.

"I managed to escape after giving them the slip, and an UNSC patrol found me. They took me to their ship, but the same elite that took me, the Field-Marshal, had followed us."

She paused for breath, and saw Cortana's avatar had taken a sitting position, and the others seemed riveted by her telling this. How odd. No one ever showed her this much attention outside of military operations. She continued.

"I picked up a weapon when the soldiers weren't looking, and helped shoot him down. They helped me get off-planet, and I was put on a refuge transport headed for Arcadia."

She paused, thinking back to the crowded ship. "some man approached me, asking if I wanted to take revenge at the Covenant." She stopped again, taking a moment to compose her words. "That was the way I was recruited into the Spartan-II program."

"Really?" Cortana immediately asked. "No background checking, no genetic profiling, no criteria?"

"The only Criteria I noticed was that we were all children and had a grudge against the Covenant." Six responded, thinking back to the days spent among the other children. Days upon days cooped up in an old freighter, picking up more and more kids on the way, before arriving at camp Currahee.

"The Chief there didn't go easy on us, though, for our very first test was to jump out of a pelican, at night, high altitude using only Falcon Wing Aerial Descent units." Six smirked behind her visor, enjoying what would come next. "And I jumped first, of course, falling upside down BY CHOICE most of the way."

Linda leaned backwards, seemingly impressed. Sam started to laugh, and John, though not saying a word, was probably smiling as well. Cortana was smiling as well, and her avatar started glowing more brightly.

"Let me guess" Cortana said. "You gained your violent behavior from that fall?"

"Nah, I got that from a SOEIV landing the wrong way." Six joked back. "It was fun though."

"Ah, so that's where you learned to crash so well." Sam joked, and most in the room guffawed at that.

"Anyway, the instructors saw I was highly skilled, and that I had a talent for learning new skills."

"What are you specialized at, anyway?" Linda asked. "you flew the escape pod pretty well, and you obviously know your way around the wounded."

"Since I already knew how to fight, they focused on teaching me as many skills as possible. I mostly specialize in medicine, piloting and mechanics. And stabbing Split-faces of course."

"I'll bet." Cortana said. "They rarely rate any Spartan Hyper Lethal, so you must be skilled."

"That makes you my equal then." John said. He then looked at Cortana, and added "Just."

Six looked at him. "So YOU are the one that tested the first AI-compatible Mjolnir variant."

"Yes." John just said. "jealous?" Cortana asked. "No, just slight admiration for beating Ackerson." most laughed again at that.

Six continued. "the trainers recognized I was better off, mostly anyway, as a Lone Wolf operative, and immediately after training, in 2545, I was assigned to Ackerson. I essentially became his personal assassin against the Insurrection, no matter how you cover that fact up with good gear and a nice title. I can't go into detail here, but what you did against the Covenant" Six said, gesturing at the others as a group. "I did against the Insurrection. Until 2 months ago, when I was assigned to Noble team."

They all were silent for a moment after that, for they all knew that all of Noble was gone, all dead, either shot or left behind on Reach when the Covenant started Glassing the planet. "we were the ones who warned the UNSC the Covenant were on the planet. We engaged them on many fronts, but we were slowly picked off. Jorge during Operation: Uppercut, Kat during-"

"Wait." Sam said. "Jorge? As in tall, heavy and big gun carrying Jorge? Speaks Hungarian, is very empathic, could always keep up while carrying all the gear?"

Six looked at him, confused. "Yes. How'd you know him?"

"He was one of us. Spartan-II. Jorge-052." Linda answered.

"How did he die?" John asked, and he moved closer to the group.

Six sighed, then asked "any of you aware of the specifics of Operation: Uppercut?"

All of them, save Cortana, shook their heads. Six went, much more sobered up than at the beginning of the tale. "After invading the Covenant army on the Viery territory, we were attacked by a Super-Carrier, which devastated the home fleet. We needed to take it out before it burned Reach to cinders, so we came up with a plan." Six paused at that for a long time, reliving the bad memories.

"Inspired by the Cygnus incident with a improperly installed Slipspace-drive," Cortana picked up, taking the burden for her. "Noble-team headed into orbit, taking the UNSC-Savannah's Slipspace drive. They boarded a Covenant Corvette, set it on a refueling track with the Super-Carrier, and hoped to leave it there on a timer, as a impromptu bomb." Cortana paused. "It went well. Until-"

"Until the timer got hit when we were ambushed in the hanger after I put the Corvette on her refueling track." Six paused, swallowed, and continued. "Jorge stayed behind to detonate our bomb manually. I would have done so, but he threw me off the ship, and after waiting until I was out of range until detonating it."

"It saved Reach." Cortana finished for her. "Until the main Covenant assault fleet, consisting of 315 vessels, arrived 30 seconds later."

they were all silent. "I landed a few days out from New Alexandria, and met up with Noble there." Six went on after a long time, needing to fill the silence. "we fought a lot during the siege, but were reassigned to Sword-base, supposedly to destroy it."

Six stopped again. She still saw it vividly, Kat falling into her arms, shot in the Head by the same Field-Marshal as the one at Visegrad Relay.

Linda moved over to her, and put a hand on her shoulder. "You can stop if you want to."

"thanks, but I promised to tell as much as I could." Six said

"Actually, you didn't." Sam said. " you promised to tell us a summary, and we have one now. We can guess the rest."

"Then you can say I feel morally obligated to say so."

They all nodded, and Six started again. "on the way out of the city, another of the team, Kat, was shot in the head by a Field-Marshal. The same one we encountered when checking out Visegrad Relay by the way, so you can say I started to hate them with a passion."

"we arrived at the base, only to find Halsey inside, working with a fragment of our blue lady" Six said, nodding at Cortana. Cortana gave her an odd look in response. "to translate some data from an unknown artifact. After they were done, Halsey and Cortana chose me to take the Fragment back to the Autumn, and we did so. Once we got outside the base, Carter, Our Squad Leader, split us up. One of us, Jun, escorted the Doctor to Castle-Base, while the rest of us went to the Autumn. When we were nearly there, however, we were forced to bail as Banshees seemed to LOVE Emile." Six said.

Sam laughed. "the same one with the... Decorations on his helmet?"

"Got it in one." Six responded, understand that Sam referred to Emile's helmet. He had carved a face onto the visor, and it had turned into his trademark appearance.

"Anyway, we bailed, with Carter drawing away the Air-forces of the Covenant while we moved on towards the Autumn." Six paused again, still seeing the flames before her eyes. "we were cornered by a scarab tank. We were about to be killed. When Carter rammed it with the Pelican."

Six paused to let that sink in, then continued. "we continued on, met Sam near the wreck of the Commonwealth, and you know the rest."

"Let me finish, then." Sam said. "You killed most of the Elites we encountered, Emile manned a Mass-Driver cannon to cover Keyes, we waited with some Brutes for Keyes, you gave him 'our blue lady', Emile got ambushed and killed, you brutally attacked and mutilated his killer, destroyed a cruiser, we got picked up by Foehammer, and You saved Linda from a cold, crispy death, then went on Ice yourself."

"In less colorful lines, yes."

they all were silent for a moment. "A hell of a story. One we can barely match." John said

"Speak for yourself." Linda said. They laughed.

Six looked at Cortana, and asked. "Is he always as quiet when you are inside?"

"More empty than silent" Cortana responded. They all laughed at that.

"Anyway, I'll start." Linda said. "This is all classified, of course, but I think we can trust you on this." Six nodded at that, noting it was a large sign of trust, for them to share their past with her.

It made her feel slightly guilty that she hadn't shared her training details with them.

"We were all taken as six-year olds, replaced with Flash-Clones, and trained on Reach to be Spartans. I don't think I need to tell you how tough the training regime can be. But anyway, we were all put into teams of three, me and 2 others, Fred and Kurt, were Green team, while John, Same and Kelly were Blue Team."

"Anyone I might have seen?" Six asked

"Likely not, or she would have remembered you." John said. Six noted John seemed distant about that, and Six made a note to ask him about it in greater detail later. But She listened on. "John, Kelly and Sam were inseparable." Linda went on, noticing it as well. "And many of us agreed that they were the best team. They often had the best scores, beat the others at nearly all exercises, and got along with each other the best."

"Except for the time when he sprinted to the bell, and left me and Kelly far behind." Sam cut in.

"I already told you I'm sorry." John responded, being pulled out of his thoughts. "And we all got in third when they repeated the exercise."

"It still counts, no matter how many times you apologize."

"Oh, cut it out, you two. You interrupted the story." Linda said.

"Sorry." they said. In synch, Six noticed. They really were attuned to each other.

"Anyway, we were first deployed, I mean John, Kelly, Sam, Fred and I, to take down Watts. We hit his base hidden in the Asteroid belt of Eridanus II. Long story short, we took him back with us, ALIVE, and Sam blew open the Hanger doors, killing quite a few civilians."

"Impressive." Six said. "I saw that base later on, on one of my ops, and you could still see the damage that had been done."

"I do my job very well." Sam said.

"It was the first prelude we had to him becoming our heavy-weapons expert." John said. "read the warnings too late."

They laughed again. Six noted the 4 of them did that a lot among themselves. "and the first that John would be our leader, whether he liked it or not." Sam said.

"His hidden talent." Linda complemented.

"And what were those of the rest of your team?" Six asked.

"I'm physically the strongest and biggest among us" Sam said.

"I'm the best Sniper we have." Linda said. "Fred was Second-best at everything, but like John a natural leader."

"Kelly was the fastest among us, and probably the fastest human alive." John finished.

"Was?" Six asked, though she already knew the answer.

They all grimaced, and Cortana decided to bear the burden. "John ordered them to defend the generators for the Orbital MAC-Cannons, along with the other Spartans. They were still planet-side as we left."

Six nodded. "I'm sorry." That explained a part of why John seemed morose whenever Kelly or the other Spartans were mentioned. But he seemed to be even more so than Linda or Sam. Personal feelings for her maybe? But she couldn't do anything about that. So she pressed on with the story.

"And how about your engagements with the Covenant? You seem to take to them well."

Sam, recognizing the distraction for what it was, filled in.

"The first time was around Chi Ceti. We received the prototypes for Mjolnir armor. A Covenant Cruiser appeared, and the Commonwealth punctured a hole into her hull. And yes, the same Commonwealth at Aszod. Irony at it's finest." Six laughed.

"All Spartans attempted to board her, but only me, Kelly and John made it on board." Sam continued. "We were all hit by them pretty badly, but we managed to leave a Havok near the reactor and made it off. I had to shed my shoulder Pauldron due to heavy damage, but it went well otherwise."

"After that it was mostly the same: We got on the ground, killed Covvie bastards, then were pulled back out due to the Covenant starting the glassing process." Linda said.

"Then Cote d'Azur happened." Sam finished for her.

Six frowned. She knew of the battle, but hadn't heard any of the details. "The battle of Sigma Octanus? I thought that was a major victory for the UNSC."

Cortana spoke for this part. "That's the point. We destroyed a large Covenant fleet, we destroyed the Covenant invasion force on planet, and Blue team secured a ROCK the covenant wanted."

Six frowned even more. "A rock?"

"Yep." Sam said. "they had scanned it, and were transmitting the results to a Covenant Ship in orbit.

I know because I carried it back."

"After our first encounter with hunters." John said, then looking up. "And after you ripped one in half through sheer strength."

"I was frustrated, and had to let it out on something, right?"

"But ripping one of them in half?"

Six looked at them, impressed. She had never seen anyone rip even a grunt in half through sheer strength. But a hunter? That would be something she'd have liked to see.

They were looking at her for her response. "Show-off." she said. And again most of them laughed.

"and nothing out of the ordinary besides that?"

"Well, yes." Cortana said, and this time the others looked at her as well.

"There was?" Linda asked.

"Yes." Cortana continued. "Did you really think we would find a giant metal ring 10.000 Kilometers in diameter by accident? ONI extracted part of the coordinates for this Ring from symbols on that rock. When we were supposed to jump to random coordinates, I put those coordinates in instead."

They all looked at her. "And how about the other part?" Six asked.

"Recovered from the artifact beneath Sword-base, and translated while YOU" Cortana pointed at Six "covered us. Keyes knew the data was valuable, so he had a part of me taken to Halsey to aid her, and the main part of me help him in ship-to-ship combat."

Six nodded. "That explains why Noble was sent. It sparked the interest of the Covenant, so it was very valuable to ONI."

"Yep. But that finishes Sigma Octanus." Cortana said. "Anyone want to continue?"

"I will." John said. "We were recalled to Reach shortly thereafter. For Operation: Red Flag.

We, meaning nearly all Spartan-II's were gathered at Reach, supposed to take the Autumn and board a Covenant vessel. We were to take it into Covenant territory, and capture one of their religious leaders. Command hoped it would force the Covenant onto the negotiating table."

"A prophet." Six said. "I read reports about them. Supposed to be physically weak, often using artificial gravity chairs and belts to move around."

"Yes" John confirmed. "except for teams deployed too far behind enemy lines, we were all present. We were just about to leave the system when the main Covenant assault fleet arrived, and we were all recalled to the defense of Reach."

"We were split for three objectives when we returned: Gamma station had failed to erase a back-up of their Navigational data, Noble needed an escort to the Autumn, carrying Cortana's fragment, and the defense of the generators of the Orbital Cannons." John said.

"John, I and another Spartan named James went on the Gamma-station op, the other spartans went to the generators to defend them." Linda said.

"And you know where this tall, gorgeous man went." Sam said, and Six chuckled.

"What happened to James?" Six then asked.

"His thruster-pack took a hit from a needler, and the fuel tank was compromised." John said, pausing. "He was propelled into space, heading for the main battle."

Six then knew he was likely dead, either from a stray shot, hitting a vessel at too high a speed to survive, or dying of asphyxiation as his oxygen tank ran out. She nodded in respect.

"I managed to erase the data, and signaled for a pelican to pick up me, Linda and a few marine survivors from the station. Including Sergeant Johnson."

Six smirked at that. So Johnson was recovered by John himself. No wonder he had respect for the Chief.

"As I was covering them, however, I was ambushed, and hit by an awful lot of Plasma-rounds." Linda said.

"Five." Six said. "all centered around your chest and back. You were lucky to even survive."

"Thanks to you, I did."

"why did you run up to her anyway?" Sam asked. "You didn't even know her."

Six was silent. She had pondered on that quite a lot herself. And beyond a feeling she had to, she didn't have a solid answer.

"I had seen enough death on Reach, and I saw I had the right skills to save her. That, and the feeling I had to do so." she finally said.

"I heard the signal from the generators by the way, so you don't have to elaborate." the others appeared to relax when she said that. Almost... relieved.

"So" Six said, needing to fill the silence. "Now that we know a lot more about each other, what about we get some sleep? It's been a long day." they all nodded, and Six and Linda stood up to leave.

"One more thing," John said, and she halted.

John stood up, and he and Sam walked over to her. "Seeing as you have proven yourself to be quite capable, if a little... crazy." Sam snickered at that "And we're likely the last Spartans alive." John held out his hand. "I'd like to invite you to Blue-team."

Six actually stepped back at that from shock. She had heard about Blue-team, and how good they were, even if she never learned of which spartans it was composed. And their account of their lives confirmed they were a tight group. To be invited into their team was more than an honor.

It was an assurance of Immortality.

Six shook it. "consider the invitation accepted... sir."

Linda and Sam stood at attention, and Sam said "Kelly usually says this, but she isn't here. So I'll do the honors." He put a hand on her shoulder. "Welcome to Blue-team, Spartan. We're going to make a great team."

Six somehow knew they were going to.

* * *

Fol watched the encounter with amusement, even if he wasn't spotted.

A Spec-ops elite had left the Council of masters meeting, looking bemused. Fol had witnessed the meeting, even if he didn't choose to participate. He watched as the prophet listened to the idea of hunting down the Spartans. He watched as they turned it down, and as Soha 'Rolamee consoled him with that he was needed elsewhere. And he was watching now as the human captain stared down the spec-ops soldier, and was winning.

And he agreed with the Sangheili.

The Spartans were a threat to the battle-group. They wouldn't have been if the Stealth-units on the Autumn hadn't hesitated to shoot them on sight. Now they were loose on the Halo-Ring, free to cause disorder and chaos as they pleased. He had already read reports about them holding off a large attack group that was harassing the human survivors. The Spartans had successfully guarded the structure as it was used as a local rally point, and had defeated the entire force that assaulted them, and had escaped.

500 soldiers. Their lives wasted because of them having received contradicting orders from the San'Shyuum.

He loathed the species, like most from the Clan. Or rather, their tendency to claim authority and power when they couldn't wield it. And they were reluctant to pull their weight, claiming they didn't need to do anything.

And they had attempted to eradicate his Clan multiple times.

Millennia ago, the Covenant had exiled their prisoners to a remote desert world, on the outskirts of the Sanghelios sector. His Clan had invaded the planet after they were driven out of the 'Holy City' for illegal arms-trade and training far more intense than that of others.

They had taken in those that followed the code of their leader, Thel Katarn, and had killed those that didn't. And they trained and raised them as their own, taking in others, and training from an even younger age than those aspiring to be Honor Guards.

After successfully repelling FIVE invasions from the Covenant, at disadvantage of numbers and weapons even, The San'Shyuum had agreed to leave the planet be. After a while, the Planet, renamed Sang'Katarn, had sent troops to Covenant military academies to train, and the cadets ended up defeating multiple instructors single-handedly. It became considered an honor if any member of the covenant was invited to Sang'Katarn at all, and most Covenant soldiers, particularly Sangheili, aspired to be accepted into the Clan, as the Sang'Katarn leading family came to be called.

Fol saw the confrontation between the captain and the spec-ops soldier was ending, and he moved himself to move himself into his predicted path, partly leaning against the wall

And he was right. After 2 minutes the soldier and his Unggoy assistant came around the corner, headed his way.

Fol spoke to him. "Quite an impressive speech you gave at the council. Nearly blew my helmet off with your conviction."

The Spec-ops soldier looked at him, and responded "Your feelings about the meeting don't matter to me. The demons MUST be killed."

The soldier obviously didn't know him by appearance. That would work to his advantage here. "And I agree, the same way every human must be destroyed. But why do they take priority over the others? And why must YOU be the one to hunt them down?" Fol asked.

"Because I have experience with them. I have survived an encounter with them." Zuka responded.

"oh, so being nearly killed by one now counts as well?"

An easy provocation for most Sangheili, and Zuka fell for it.

"WHAT? You insolent wretch."

Fol knew he had the right Sangheili for the mission in front of him right now. Driven, Skilled, Strong. A bit prideful, but he could work around that. Maybe even subvert it into pragmatism, given enough time. Maybe even worthy enough to visit Sang'Katarn. He decided to identify himself, starting with a laugh.

"I haven't been called insolent since childhood. And the last one that did so still regrets calling Fol Katarn insolent."

The soldier was shocked, Fol could tell. Here he was, berating what he thought was a regular Sangheili Field-Marshal off-duty, and just discovering he had just insulted a living legend among warriors. Most would fear for their lives at that moment. The Unggoy likely did.

Before the soldier could even mutter an apology, Fol held out his hand, palm up. "Your Identification disk, please."

The soldier immediately grabbed it, fumbling with it while getting it out of his helmet once before dropping it in his palm. He opened it.

"Zuka 'Zamamee, Spec-ops soldier, specialized in assault, infiltration, leading and... Improvised battle tactics." Fol read out loud. "Care to elaborate on that?"

Zuka seemed to hesitate, but decided to go on with it. "When my plasma rifle was empty, I decided to pick up a Human weapon. The Leader was... displeased with it."

"I see" Fol said. He handed back the disk. "Zuka, know that I agree with your quest, and I will vouch for you if the Council decides to change their stance and ask for volunteers."

Zuka was stunned, Fol could tell. He could understand. Zuka had insulted a legendary and highly skilled superior, and instead of being beheaded he _gained his favor._ It rarely happen you even survived a similar encounter.

His helmet sounded an alarm, and he turned to the pair. "I must go, but if you want _real_ experience with Demons, feel free to contact me.

With that Fol left. He somehow suspected, though, that he would soon encounter Zuka again.

* * *

She was nudged, and was instantly wide awake.

Like the one of Sam and John, theirs had only one bunk, and Six let Linda have it to better recover from her wounds.

Linda had felt better, but she couldn't really Six for anything. She had saved her life when performing Surgery on the Autumn, and again at a structure that was used as a Rally point. But she had nudged a rather... sensitive spot near an injury.

Six stood over her. She was armored, but most of the pieces were off, with her only wearing the helmet, chest-piece and boots.

"I'm awake. What is it?" she asked.

"Silva wants to meet us." Six said. "Without armor, so be prepared. I know from experience it will likely be a stiff talking to from a grumpy superior officer."

"oh goody. And why aren't you in only an undersuit?"

"Privilege of having so much black ink in your files they are scared of my face."

They laughed. Linda found she liked Six. She was quiet, mostly, and she could kill very quickly. She was competent, and could see what was relevant and what wasn't. Even if she was as stubborn as John.

They got out of their room, in their undersuits, with Six wearing her helmet, chest-piece and boots. She noticed John and Sam were already standing outside.

"There you are! You ladies sure took your time."

"You know the routine." Six said. "Us ladies have to prepare as well. Go to the bathroom, brush teeth and such things. Men wouldn't understand."

"I hate to break up the lovely chat," John cut in. "but Silva's waiting. We'd better move on."

they did, and arrived at Silva's office. It was guarded by 2 ODST's, or Helljumpers, as they were more commonly known.. "Identification" one asked.

"Spartans 117, 034, 058 and B312 reporting to Major Silva." John said for the group.

It were their only names other UNSC personnel were allowed to know. There were no others left who knew their real names.

"Spartan 117? B312? What are those kind of names?" one of them inquired. "Hell of a bad name."

"Coming from a guy named Yutrzenika, that's pretty rich." Mckay said, coming up behind the spartans. The ODSt's laughed. "Don't mind them. They're jump happy. Let's go in."

Linda nodded to the lieutenant. "Thank you, ma'am." They entered the office, and they stood at Silva's desk. Silva looked up from what he was doing prior, and met their eyes in turn, John first, then her, then Sam and Six' visor last. They all snapped to attention. "Sir, Spartan 117, 034, 058 and B312 reporting for duty sir."

The fact that Silva didn't say "at ease", as most officers did at such a moment, told Linda Six had been right. This would be a stiff talking-to.

"So" Silva began after a few moments. "You're probably wondering who I am, and What this is all about. That's understandable, especially given your elite statuses as a group, your close relationship with Captain Keyes, and the fact we now know he has been captured. Loyalty is a fine thing, one of the many things for which the military is known, and a quality I admire."

So far Silva hadn't said anything bad at all. But Linda trusted Six' judgement in the matter, especially above an ODST.

Silva got up, and started to walk towards them. "However, there is a chain of command, which means you all report to me. _Not_ to Keyes, _not_ to Cortana, and _not_ yourselves."

So now it was starting. She was getting agitated with this, and she saw John and Sam were doing so as well. Six didn't seem to be so, but she had the benefit of hiding her face behind a visor.

Silva stopped in front of them, so close that if she leaned forward a little, she could likely kiss him.

Linda despised officers that did that. She was slowly starting to develop a big dislike to Silva.

"I thought it might be a good idea for a com check between all of you and me." Silva continued. "So, here's the deal. I'm short a Captain, so Lieutenant Mckay is serving as my XO. If either of us says 'crap', then I expect you all to ask 'What color, how much, and where do you want it?' Do you read me?"

For all he might have done in the war, and despite the fact he was a good soldier, Linda really wished she had her Sniper rifle with her about now. Silva really presented a good target to practice on.

But he was her superior, so instead she just clenched her jaw, like the others, and said "Perfectly, Sir." Linda noted Six hadn't said anything since she entered Silva's office. Why?

"Good" Silva said, not taking note of Six responding. He _finally_ started to back up a bit. "One more thing. I'm familiar with the records of the three of you" Silva pointed to her, Sam and John. "and I admire them. You are all three soldiers straight from Hell. That said, you are also freaks, the last remains of a terribly flawed experiment that should never be repeated again."

He then looked at Six. "and you. Your files are so classified I couldn't even even glance at the front page of them, even with help from Wellsley. I'll assume you have had quite your share of battles, looking at your armor. But You are likely a Spartan as well, also selected from birth to fight, and having no life besides that."

That stung, even to Linda, who had heard her life-story the night before. Or a summary of it anyway. Somehow she suspected silva intended it exactly like that: to hurt her.

"The whole notion of selecting some people, kidnapping them, modifying their bodies and screwing with their minds is Wrong. First, because the candidates have no choice. Second, because the subjects are transformed into human aliens. And third, because the program failed."

Linda drowned out most of what Silva said next, because she doubted she would keep herself restrained if she paid attention to it any longer. She glanced at the others. Sam was still standing at attention, although she saw he had balled his fists. John seemed to bear it, but she saw his jaw was clenched, he stood rigid, and wasn't exactly looking anywhere.

And Six... she looked to be calm from the outside, at peace even. Did she not care for what Silva said about them at all?

She started to listen in again as Silva said "Do you read me?"

Linda took a deep breath, and said, unintentionally with Sam and John "Sir, no sir."

Silva looked at them, staring each of the three in the eyes for long moments of silence. Then he nodded. "I understand. ODST's are loyal to their dead as well. But that doesn't changed the fact that the program is _over._ ".

He then turned to Six. "and why haven't you said anything yet during this conversation? And I thought I had asked you to come without ANY of your armor."

So Silva hadn't given her permission to wear some of it to hide her features, and Six had deliberately disobeyed orders. Linda mentally prepared for what she predicted would be a berating at her teammate from the Major, an stood ready to intervene.

"n the matter of the armor," Six began "I have specific instructions from Section three to never reveal my face even if I was ordered to by a group of admirals. You don't have the authority over me to remove it."

Silva looked pissed at that. But Six didn't even give him a chance to reply. "As for my silence, anything I have to say to YOU would get me court-marshaled at the very least. Sir." her tone made it very clear that Six didn't think Silva deserved to be addressed like that.

So that was how Six was like. If she displayed her anger through yelling and gestures, as she'd done when Linda had insisted on helping fend off the Covenant at the rally point, it wasn't likely that bad. But if she was Silent, clear, at attention and calmly stating facts, you'd better prepare to reach a bomb shelter.

Silva didn't seem to have figured it out yet.

"Did you just ignore what I just said, soldier? You report to me. You follow my orders, and you WILL remove that helmet right now."

"Permission to speak freely?" Six asked.

Silva stood for a moment before he said "Granted."

"You don't deserve to hold your rank. You put to much empathize on the project's ethics. You might be right, you might be not. But it doesn't matter. We face EXTINCTION. Your opinions on it likely won't matter in a few years because you'll be dead. And besides, would your men from the Atlas really want you to HOLD ON TO A PETTY GRUDGE FOR DECADES?"

Six was yelling now. Linda prepared herself to move in to intervene. Silva was furious.

"HOW DARE YOU USE THAT AGAINST ME? A SPARTAN KILLED MY MEN FOR ONI'S AMUSEMENT. DO YOIU REALLY THAT WAS THE GOOD THING TO DO? THE RIGHT THING TO DO EVEN?"

"I USE THAT AGAINST YOU BECAUSE YOU HAD ME LISTEN TO YOU INSULTING MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS, DECLARE ME A FREAK, AND CALL ME SOMETHING TAHT WOULD DIE OUT. WELL, GUESS WHAT. WE'LL ALL LIKELY DIE IN THIS WAR ANYWAY. AND WHEN HAS ONI _NOT_ WASTED LIFES JUST TO SEE IF IT SERVED THEIR PURPOSES?"

Silva was silent after that. He looked straight at Six, then said in a much quieter voice then before "You are likely right of course, and we do need you, even if I don't like it."

Then, as if a switch had been thrown, he turned to all of them, and said "at ease."

They all got along well after that. "Let's discuss how we'll go about rescuing Keyes.

* * *

This went well, Six thought as they approached the _Truth and Reconciliation_.

They had learned that Keyes was held there, and John and Silva had surmised that the best way to rescue Keyes was to board the ship and rescue Keyes and any other survivors they could find. They would board the ship through it's gravity lift. But things rarely went according to plan.

"Care to explain the... outburst? At Silva's I mean."

Six could understand that. She had doubted Silva's authority, insulted one of his valuable memories, and had said he didn't matter.

Six saw to her surprise that Linda had talked to her on a private channel. How odd. Was she gonna ask something she didn't want the others to know about?

"you think I would let him get away with tarnishing the memories of my brothers? With YOURS?"

"just asking."

"I had an instructor like him once. I beat him up a lot worse than Silva. Got three weeks in the brig for it, but it was worth it."

"Psycho, sadistic, violent, bad sense of humor. You'll be fine in Blue team." They both laughed at that, one Lone wolf to another.

Six saw the conversation was still private, and decided to bring up the subject she thought was quite sensitive among them. "What's up with John anyway? With Kelly I mean. He becomes silent and... morose every time she's mentioned." Linda was silent after that. "She was one of his best friends."

"already took account. Sam doesn't appear to be affected. Not to that extent anyway."

Another silence. So it was a very sensitive subject. "Don't tell anyone what I'm about to tell you, and if you do you didn't hear it from me."

"I'll promise to be silent. Go on"

Linda took a breath, and Six saw she seemed to tense. "John and Kelly were close. Even closer than they were to Sam."

"Friendship level or Relationship level?"

"Friendship level, though I have evidence both wanted something more out of it."

"Something more?"

"Both didn't know how one felt about the other, and they both didn't push it any further because of that. I overheard Kelly mutter so to herself, and on the Autumn, when you were busy aiding marines with their wounds, John confessed so to Sam on the same matter."

And with John ordering her to secure the ground generators, he'll probably feel like he sentenced her to death. That would be awful."

"Now you know why we are all silent on the matter."

"indeed. I'll shut up on the matter."

"Speaking of odd relationships, What is it between you and Sam?"

"What?"

"Oh, come on. I saw you both look at each other the same way John and Kelly looked. It doesn't take a genius to figure it out."

Six wanted to interrupt, but Linda continued on.

"Besides, you in a way already promised him Diner."

She wanted to deny it, but then she remembered that in fact she did. And, to be honest with herself, she wouldn't mind it if they actually did.

"Why do you ask? Jealous?" Six said, trying to divert the subject.

"No, I already have a love" Linda said, holding up her SRS99D-S2 AM sniper rifle. "Besides, he seems to have taken a liking to you as well."

before Six could even begin to form a reply, Cortana sounded over the Com "I hate to break up the chatter ladies,but we're arriving, and you are _perfectly_ positioned to head out first."

"Roger." Six said.

She and Linda exited, and Six was glad they could get on with the mission. It gave her something to focus on.

Other than her feelings.

* * *

The first thing that he saw from the bay was a full-scale attack group.

Fol had been assigned to take a group of Sangheili and scout out one of the Forerunner structures for potential supply-bases, and was about to gather the men necessary for the mission when the alarm sounded on the _Truth and Reconciliation_. He had remained on the ship at Thel Vadam's request so the Prophet of Stewardship didn't screw up military matters on the ship. Even if Thel had phrased it differently.

But now the Humans had come to him. And had taken out everyone around the Gravity lift. On the surface.

He temporarily contemplated about joining the response-teams headed this way, but decided on remaining cloaked. There was no point attacking hostile forces if you didn't know what they were composed of.

And so the Humans approached the lift, and entered the ship through the lift. And to his shock they were led by the demons.

Including the one that had cost him his eye.

He tensed. He had no particular grudge against the spartans, even though he had killed his fair share of them. But this one had bested him in battle. The first one that had defeated him. The first time since childhood he had ever lost.

And he admired the Spartan for it.

Then the response team arrived, and he knew it was now time to pay attention.

* * *

"What? No Covenant here? Maybe nobody's home." one of the ODST's joked.

Sam found himself agreeing with that. The Covenant should be guarding the entrance they surely knew we would take. But there was not a grunt in sight.

"Look out!" Six yelled, and shot at seemingly nothing.

Then the nothing turned into a silver Elite wearing Spec-ops armor.

Sam joined Six into killing the elite, and he went down. Then all around them the doors opened, and Covenant soldiers streamed in through all of them.

"NO Covenant?" the ODST sergeant yelled. "You just had to open your mouth."

Sam brought his shotgun up at one of the elites, and shot him in the head. His shields overloaded, and a few pallets went into his head. He dropped down, dead. He immediately spotted 3 more headed his way.

He threw a grenade at them, but they didn't all go down. He ran at one of them and shot again at the head. He managed to evade the shot, and backed of a bit. Sam shot at him again, the chest this time, and this time he hit. The elite had already had it's shields down from a hit from another soldier, and he went down. The other elite was immediately on to him, too close for Sam to bring his shotgun around. So instead he dropped it, and hit him in the face, kicked at his right foot and gave him a jab in the gut with 4 fingers. His hand got inside the elite, between the armor plates, and it temporarily stunned the bastard. He used the opportunity to form a fist inside the elite, and he then pulled his hand out.

His hand came out bloodied, and he held some of the Elite's intestines. The Elites looked at it, seemed to be shocked, before he fell down in agony. Sam saw a piece of bone was inside his hand, shaped like a vertebrae.

Oops.

He turned to the others, and immediately noticed that Six was right on top of an elite, stabbing in the eye while kicking at it's hands.

Sam really appreciated having her guard his six, and did so for her. So when he saw an elite trying to sneak up on her, he naturally shot it in the back. It hit it right in the spine, and the elite was paralyzed.

Six finally got up from stabbing the elite in the eye, and saw what he had done.

"Thanks." she said.

"You're welcome." Sam scanned the room, and saw no aliens left standing.

John walked over to them. "Let's move on. We're sitting ducks in this room." they all agreed, and everyone moved to the waypoint Cortana brought up.

After 15 minutes they arrived at a shuttle bay.

It had three levels, 2 levels of balconies and a bottom floor. The bottom floor was bisected into two halves by a central platform that rose from the floor to the first balcony.

They immediately were shot upon from higher up. And Sam saw a lot of elites at their half of the floor. The humans all sought cover behind crates.

"Think we messed up someone's birthday party?" Sam asked, just to lighten the mood about being pinned down.

"Stick your head out and ask!" Six called back.

"Ha-ha"

"I'm serious. Stick it out, draw fire and I'll climb up and take them out."

Sam wanted to look at the platform, but ducked back as a needle hit the crate a few centimeters from his face. He tried again.

There was indeed a stack of crates next to the platform that could be climbed. It ended just a few meters short of the platform, but he was confident Six could climb it.

"Sure, let ME be the one to draw fire." Sam finally said, as he moved to draw attention.

"Hey, I'll be shot when I finally get up there, you know. Be happy you stay down there." Six said, as she jumped from cover right after him, heading to the crates in a zigzag-like pattern.

She reached the crates, and used her forward momentum to jump up and reach the first handhold. Sam stood tall despite drawing a lot of fire.

He saw John was moving out to help him as well, but he suddenly halted, looking at one of the doors in the hanger.

Sam turned to look as well, and his heart skipped a beat for a moment.

4 hunters emerged from the doorway, and were turning their way.

Sam knew he couldn't distract those upstairs AND deal with the hunters. And he couldn't ignore the hunters, for they would spot him easily, with him standing there in the open like that. He had to make a call. Six hadn't made it to the top yet, likely, so he had to buy some time.

He came up with something. It was suicidal, crazy, and could endanger the others.

It was also something Six would likely do.

He opened a com to John and Linda "I've got an idea. Can each of you distract one of the hunter? Draw them to the open floor?"

he got 2 acknowledgement-lights in response. "Care to let us in on the plan?"

"You'll see it soon anyway, and we need to hurry."

He emerged, and waved at the hunters, drawing their attention. "Hey, big guy! Over here!" Two of the hunters turned towards him, and they charged their weapons. He ran towards them, hoping to get to close for them to fire without harming themselves. He was too late, however, and the shots fired.

He jumped out of their way, and continued charging at them, only from a different angle. The hunters, realizing their target was too close, charged at him with their shields held high, covering their upper bodies.

Sam jumped on top of one, riding it for all intends and purposes. It tried to dislodge him, but he had a firm grip on it's head, or helmet, he couldn't tell, and one of the spines that came from it's back.

The other hunter saw this, and, standing so close to his partner, tried to punch Sam of with it's shield.

Exactly as Sam hoped he would.

He jumped off, kicking the hunter he was riding straight into the shield of the other. The attacking one, not able to divert his shield in time, hit it's bond-brother in the head. It fell backwards, lifeless.

Good, Sam thought. One down, three to go. He got a glimpse of Six' progress. She had made it to the top, and was starting to tear their ambushers apart. Sam was confident she could hold her own up there, and turned back to the threat at hand.

And saw the other hunter was in his face, shield held to bring down on him with all his force.

Sam saw he had no time to grab his rifle again, so he did the only thing he knew might work.

He grabbed the hunter, one hand on it's chest, one on it's leg, and lifted.

It unbalanced the hunter, and it's shield missed him by an inch. But Sam didn't stop lifting.

He held the hunter above him now, like he was holding up the ceiling from a collapsing building or cave. Sam knew he couldn't hold this position for long, so he did the only thing that didn't leave him with a pissed off hunter at the end.

And pulled at both ends. With all of his strength. Just like at Sigma Octanus.

Nobody had done this before, and even most spartans wouldn't likely be able to replicate this feat. But he did it with ease. For the augmentations had done something to each of the spartans, and each of them had something that made them unique. And Sam's speciality became that he became physically the strongest spartan alive. Possibly even the strongest human alive.

He ripped the hunter in two at the waist.

It produced a lot of gore, mainly the eel-like things that hunters were composed of. Many of them were ripped in half like the hunter itself. The armor on it's back stuck to the top half, the torso and legs were separated in his hands.

He threw the body-parts to his sides, and looked around.

It was quiet everywhere, with everyone watching him, whether on his floor or the one Six was on. Even the elites, which had been kept busy by sergeant Parker and his ODST's, and remaining hunter weren't moving, but looking in his direction. The marines and ODST's had looks of admiration, shock and pleasure on their faces. Likely from seeing the hunter ripped in half. The Covenant had looks of shock, anger, and even fear.

He turned to the grunts nearest him, and said "Boo!"

They, the grunts, jackals, and even one of the elites, either ran, or dropped their weapons in surrender. The Elites continued to fight, but they were quickly gunned down by the ODST's and Six, who had secured the balconies on her level. Six moved to one of the control-panels, and the Hanger-Bay shields lowered. "push them out!" She yelled. "Now!"

The others immediately understood what she meant, and they all encircled the remaining ones that resisted, and gestured for the ones that surrendered to move aside. They all did, having a newfound fear of the demons.

The ones that resisted fought valiantly, but were driven over the edge down the canyon 150 meters below. None survived.

Cortana called over the com. "Echo 419, this is Cortana. We have secured the hanger, and are ready for reinforcements."

Foehammer sounded over the com. "Foe Hammer here, Cortana... I read you, but you're _inside_ the Covenant ship. I'm not sure I can -"

Cortana cut her off. "Lock onto my signal and approach fast and low. There's a shuttle bay on the ship's starboard side."

There was a pause. "Roger, Cortana. Echo 419 on approach."

Sure enough, after a few seconds, the pelican arrived, and dropped off a squad of marines.

"Hey!" Six called from up on the platform, where she still stood. "Didn't know they sent our TIHF for support."

Sam looked at who she was yelling at, and was surprised to see Johnson again as one of the marines to support them.

Johnson looked around the hanger, saw the remains of the hunters, and said "Yeah, I do have to make it up to that 300 you talked about, right?"

"yeah, you do. Look at the hunters for proof."

"Who did that anyway?"

"The big one, and the one next to you."

Johnson looked at both of them, and asked "I'm sure you don't mind if I refuse any arm wrestling matches, don't you?

The Spartans laughed on their private com, and Linda responded "I'm confident you can do that by the time we're 60"

Johnson laughed, then said "I'm not even gonna try".

Gestured at one of the open doors. "I think we should get moving. The captain's waiting, after all." they all nodded, and Sam and the others moved through. They eventually got up to Six' level, and saw she was scooping up weapons from the corpses on her level.

And there were a lot of them.

"You've been busy." Johnson said. "Care to invite me next time?"

"Only if you take the popcorn with you"

Johnson laughed even harder at that than he did down below.

They all moved on, and after fifteen minutes of moving through a maze of hallways, they arrived at a large room dominated by a central platform.

It was filled with 16 elites, 5 of which with Zealots.

"This looks like the bridge." Cortana said. "I'll be able to pinpoint the captain's location from here."

"Care to repeat that when we have some breathing room, Cortana?" Six asked, as she stormed one of the zealots. "We're kind of busy here."

Sam took cover behind one of the pillars in the room, alongside linda, and prepared for a long fight.

* * *

Keyes was certain rescue was on his way.

The guards were getting agitated. He had overheard earlier reports that posts were failing to report in, and every few minutes a Spec-ops soldier would come to check if he was still there. He looked at the other cells, and saw a few of the marines were getting up like he was.

Those that could stand anyway. The Covenant wasn't known for treating it's prisoners well, and Keyes himself didn't feel to well either. Some of the marines weren't even conscious.

But Keyes was sure that if he needed to, he could get out of here.

He was listening to what was going on when the Spec-ops soldier returned. He didn't go to him, however, but to the Zealot leading the guards.

"I have accurate news!" it started. "The humans have already boarded the ship. They have already cleared the Shuttle-bay, and are headed for the brig."

"What?!" The zealot asked, incredulous. "How did they even make it aboard the ship?"

"They captured the ship's gravity lift, and are currently on the bridge."

"Isn't anyone there to stop them?

"The prophet didn't consider the Demons a priority. A comrade on my team even advocated to him that the Demons should be hunted, but it didn't come to be."

"How mistaken he is."

"I must go to aid them, but be prepared: They are likely coming for the human Captain."

"Understood. Good luck."

The Spec-ops soldier moved to leave the room again, but shot a glare at Keyes as he did so.

The elite left the room, and Keyes settled in to wait for his rescue.

He didn't have to wait long. After wha seemed to be 5 minutes, he heard shots outside. He saw that 2 of the elites guarding the room, the ones in white/silver armor, disappear before his eyes, and the others moved to more defendable positions in the room.

Keyes saw the doors open, and saw two of the spartans enter (One with a Sniper rifle, one with an assault rifle), followed by 3 marines and an ODST.

The marines started cheering them on, but Keyes warned the Spartans. "Watch out, people. There are Cloaked elites in the room." One of the Spartans nodded, Keyes saw her take more care aiming. She fired, and two elites went down, where there seemingly were none.

Keyes was impressed. He had heard about a spartan's skills, but hand never seen it first hand. He saw that the marines and ODST were focusing their fire on the Zealot, and he went down.

The Spartans moved through the room, and called "Clear."

"Clear" the marines, still at the entrance called.

He noticed the number on one of the Spartans was 117. So the Master Chief was here. And likely Cortana as well. Risky, them coming here, but he was still grateful they did it.

Keyes gestured at the slightly raised platform. "Chief, the controls for the cells are along the back. Open the cells, and get us hell out of here."

The chief nodded, and he moved to unlock the cells. After a few minutes the shield-doors lowered. The other spartan, with the number 058 on her armor, moved to assist him.

"Coming here was reckless." he began at them. "You all know better than this." He paused, and before any of the spartans could object, he nodded at them. "Thanks."

The spartans nodded in return, and Keyes moved out of his cell. "Marines, lock and load your weapons. Let's get ready to move."

"Yes, Sir" he heard from all of them, whether they were the rescued or the rescuers. All of them grabbed fallen covenant weapons. Keyes himself picked up the needler from the Fallen Zealot.

He started to address the entire group. "While the covenant had us locked up in here, I overheard them talking about this Ring-world. They call it... Halo." He said, searching his memory.

"One moment sir." he heard Cortana say. "Accessing the Covenant Battlenet." She paused for a second, which was an eternity for an AI. A UNSC one, anyway. "According to the data in their networks, Halo has has some kind of deep religious value. If I'm analyzing this correctly, they believe that Halo is either some gateway to the end of their 'Great Journey', or that it is some kind of weapon, with vast, only imaginable power."

"And it's true." Keyes said. "I heard that Zealot say whoever controls Halo controls the fate of the Universe."

"Now I see" Cortana said, as if she had just figured out a hard crossword puzzle. "I have intercepted a number of messages about a Covenant search team, scouting for a Control Room. I thought they were looking for the bridge of a cruiser that I damaged during the battle above the ring. But they must be looking for _Halo's_ control room."

Keyes thought. That would be very bad. "That's bad news. If Halo is a weapon, and the Covenant gain control of it, they'll use it against us and wipe out our entire race." He turned to the Spartans. "Did the other Spartans make it as well?"

"They're on the bridge, keeping it secure as it's halfway between the hanger and the brig."

Keyes nodded. "Spartans, you two have a new mission: beat the Covenant to the Control room, and keep it out of their hands."

he raised his weapon, and said to the sergeant, who he recognized as Johnson, one of the marines that came on the Autumn with the Chief "Lead the way, Sergeant. I'll have faith you can get us to the bridge. Chief, take point and cover the rest of us."

they all left the Brig, and settled for a short journey to the bridge.

* * *

The first thing he noticed that was wrong with their plan was that there were to few of them.

The humans had left half of their numbers, including two of their demons, here in order to keep the bridge secure. But with in total just 6 of them, and 8 entrances to cover they couldn't handle everything.

And Fol planned to exploit that.

So he remotely triggered one of the doors on the other side of the room, drawing the attention of everyone in the room. 4 of them moved to the door, while the spartans went to the central platform to cover them from a height.

It would have to do.

He and the others, including Zuka, thanks to Fol's quick thinking, moved in from the other side of the room, and started to massacre the soldiers.

He threw a grenade in the midst of the soldiers, killing three of them instantly and heavily wounding the fourth. The Spartans turned to them, but it was too late: Zuka and 4 others were on to them instantly, each of them with two swords ready.

And even spartans couldn't evade 10 swords forever.

The one that had cost him his eye, the female, was disarmed by one of them, her rifle cut in half, and another moved to stab her in the back. She jumped aside, but fell off the platform into one of the trenches running parallel to the platform. The other elites jumped straight after her.

Fol turned to the other, and was surprised.

He had already killed one of the them, his skull caved in straight through the helmet, and was busy trading blows with another while Zuka recovered from being thrown across the room against a pillar. Fol moved to engage, but heard the door opening, and turned towards it.

The others were returning, way sooner than expected. He turned to Zuka, who had seen it as well. He gestured for them to stay hidden. Zuka looked confused, but followed orders.

They were outnumbered now, and it would serve no purpose to stay and fight when you were likely to lose. He withdrew, and went to the hanger. He moved into a hiding position, and signaled to the banshees.

Narsk Orthelk'ee, the same elite that had picked him up when he had picked up the Captain, nodded, and he and his banshees launched to cut off any pick-up the humans would want.

Now all Fol had to do was wait. Zuka appeared behind him.

"Why did we run? It is dishonorable. We had them right where we wanted them."

Fol wanted to reply when gunfire sounded from down the hallway. He gestured to it.

"Because there is no honor in dying unnecessarily. We were becoming outnumbered and outgunned, and it wouldn't have changed anything." He saw Zuka's chest piece was bent in the form of a human fist. "These Demons are no ordinary humans, and you can't underestimate them. Or they'll kill you without a second thought." He tapped the dent. "This could have easily been your skull, so be more careful next time. You'll get your chance."

Zuka nodded, but Fol saw that he didn't calm down. Zuka was likely someone who wanted a good fight, and wasn't used to planning, staying in the shadows to gather intel on their enemy.

Fol would tell him it took him weeks to take down Noble-team, as he learned they'd been called.

"Stay in the shadows." He ordered Zuka. "Observe the demons, and Learn how they move. How they fight. It'll better prepare you when we will take them down for good."

Zuka seemed to accept that, and moved to his own hiding spot. They both settled to wait.

* * *

John heard a scuffle in one of the Trenches as he entered, and immediately headed there to look.

Six was pinned down in the trench, an Energy sword in each hand. She was holding of two stealth elites, each with one sword. John shot at one of them, distracting it so Six could take the other down without worrying about her flank. Six slashed at it's head with one sword, and across his chest with another. Being unable to block both blows, it was struck down, a new line burning across it's chest.

The shields of the other finally dropped, and john drew his pistol, and hit it in the head. It's eyes were blown out, as the round entered through one eye, and exited through another. It fell down, lifeless as the round also passed through a vital nerve running behind the eyes.

John moved to help Six up, and she happily accepted the help. "Thanks" She said. "I won't fall of the platform next time."

"Make sure of it next time" Sam called from up on the platform. "I'd like to have someone watching my back as I wrestle with THREE elites wielding energy swords."

"I'll remember next time, but recall I was actually dueling 2 of them at the same time."

"And Losing" John called over their com, joking on one of his few occasions. They laughed, and Six picked up 2 plasma rifles. John noted she put the energy swords on her hips, and they magnetically attached to them.

"Room secure." Linda called out. "enter, captain."

Keyes entered, and saw the bridge was a mess, to put it lightly. There were corpses scattered across the bridge, about 20 of them from elites with wounds ranging from caved in skulls and stab wounds from combat knives to bullet wounds and explosive residue from grenades.

There were Marine corpses among them as well, including Sergeant Parker. Too bad, John thought. Parker seemed to like them. Or at least dislike them less than the rest of the ODST's.

Cortana called to Foehammer. "Cortana to Echo 419. We have the captain and need Extraction on the double."

Foehammer immediately called on the Com, and she sounded stressed. "Negative Cortana, I've been _engaged_ by Covenant Air patrols, and I'm having a tough time shaking them. You'll be better of finding your own ride. Sorry."

John was displeased. It meant either going back to the gravity lift and walking out of here, or taking an unknown Covenant ship. Both weren't exactly ideal.

"I heard that" Keyes said, and he turned to the Chief, though he was likely addressing Cortana. "If you can guide us to one of their dropships, I can fly us out of here."

"Yes captain." Cortana said. "There's a Spirit still docked. We'll take that, and deliver you at Alpha base."

"Yeah!" Sam called. "Just follow the Corpses, Cap'n, and we'll emerge into the hanger."

Keyes nodded, and John and Linda took point. After a few minutes with no resistance, they spotted a group of Jackals around the corner heading straight towards them.

They were surprised to encounter them so soon, however, and were easily dispatched.

After that is was a quiet way to the bridge. As was predicted, a spirit hung parallel with their balcony. There were seemingly no guards, so John boarded the ship to chek if it was secure. Sam covered his six.

It was empty.

"Clear!" he called.

The others started to board, with Six boarding last, keeping their rear secure. Now they could finally go back to base and relax.

* * *

Six looked around the bay, and saw nothing. He called to the cockpit, and called "It's clear captain. Let's go while it still is."

"I agree" Keyes called, and indeed the Spirit started to move a bit. Six hit the button that closed the doors, and moved back.

She spotted a shimmer, however, and readied her plasma rifles. What she saw emerge shocked and enraged her.

Shock came from the fact that it was a Field-Marshal, and that it had a scar across it's eye, in the same pattern as the one she had killed on Reach.

Rage came from the fact that it held a knife in front of itself. Not a Covenant one, like the energy daggers that emerged from their gauntlets, but an actual human knife, still in it's sheath . It went of at an angle about a third of the way from the hilt, giving it an old boomerang-like appearance.

Six Recognized it that it was once Emile's knife, and that his shoulder-pauldron was still attached to it. She glared at it, and held out her energy swords just as the door finally closed, and they finally flew away.

* * *

 **A/U: There, the end of a VERY long chapter. I will warn you, I have a big school project coming up, and I'll likely produce less chapter (Or longer intervals, depending on your choice) because of this until the end of February. I hope you enjoy it, and Please tel me how you all think about this. I appreciate it if any of you review this, and I hope to give more info soon.**

 **With Kind Regards**

 **Gharst OmenLumin**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: I'm Back (Mostly anyway). I have another chapter ready, for you all. I'm really glad this story has the support this story has, even if So far I've only had one review. I can't promise all that much more content at this pace as I'm having more and more school projects to complete.**

 **If anyone's interested, I read these stories through (Duh) But I don't exactly do beta-reading that well beyond grammer. If any of you are interested, feel free to message me about it.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Halo, Or I'd have made a much better story for Halo 5 (Not that it's that bad, but it wasn't the fight between Spartan Locke and John-117 we were promised)**

* * *

Chapter 5

It was done. They had Keyes rescued. Their odds of surviving this ring just increased.

Sam was glad they were gone from that ship. It had been quite a fight getting Keyes out of there.

But now he was safe, and they were going for Alpha base. For rest, relaxation, a hostile Silva, and, inevitably, fighting back against the Covenant.

If only Keyes could get the dropship running.

Keyes had already entered the Cockpit, and was busy for a full 6 seconds. Not very long under normal conditions, but if the Covenant managed to regroup, they were sitting ducks in the narrow confines of the dropship.

"It's clear captain." Six called from the front of one of the prongs of the Spirit dropship. "Let's go while it still is."

"I agree" Keyes called back, and started pushing buttons at a faster pace. If interactive Holograms could be called buttons anyway.

After two seconds the dropship finally lurched, and Sam moved to one of the prongs, to check up on the survivors.

And, even if he couldn't explain why, to talk with Six.

She had been silent ever since the mission began, at least to him, about things not related to the immediate situation. He wanted to ask her why.

She was standing in the starboard prong, at the front with plasma rifles held in her hands, seemingly aiming at the wall.

And Boy she looked pissed. He could tell from her stance. Shoulders braced, seemingly not moving, just like her outburst in Silva's office. He looked at what she was looking at.

And immediately raised his rifle. It was an Elite Field-Marshal. The same one, Sam noticed, that had attempted to kill them at Reach. He knew both because of the scar he received from Six across it's eye, and because of the knowing look he gave her.

And then he looked at the elite was doing. He was clearly holding something human-made. It was a stick, bent at an angle, with what looked like lasagna-bowl cut in cut in half attached to it. That didn't make sense.

Then he looked at it again, put it in a different context, and realized why Six was pissed off.

It was the Knife of her former teammate, Emile, with it's shoulder pauldron still attached to it. And the elite was holding it up, mockingly. Almost like a trophy, holding it out for all to see.

Then the door of the dropship finally closed, and they were finally flying out of the hanger.

Sam looked at Six, and saw she had holstered her rifles, and was instead holding the energy swords, the one she scavenged from the elites that had ambushed them on the bridge.

She looked like she wanted to go back and kill the hinge-head bastard. He really couldn't blame her. But they couldn't go after it. Not without unnecessarily endangering the captain. "Don't." he said to her.

"Don't what?" Six asked, deciding to play stupid. He saw right through that. "You KNOW what I mean. You can't go after him now. Not without endangering the others."

"Then I'll go once all of you are dropped of at Alpha base."

"On your own?"

"If I have to."

If your frequent meetings are any indication, then you'll see him again... Let's see... somewhere next week." Sam knew it was a bad joke, and he made it just to lighten up the mood.

It only darkened it.

"Ha-Ha, very funny. But The bastard deserves to die. He WILL die."

Now Sam was silent. She truly sounded angry, even more so than at Silva, and he truly believed that once they landed she would stay in the dropship and take of once everyone was off. He tried a different tack.

"And he will. But not here. Not now. You saw the ship. We are outnumbered, soon to be cut off from the air." He indicated the heavy banshee traffic visible on the rear monitor in the cockpit. "And with reinforcements coming in soon anyway, we'd never make it out alive."

"And what about taking out their leadership? With him among them, it was no wonder we encountered such fierce resistance on the Autumn. Or at the structure. It's a matter of making them more disorganized."

"Be honest with me. Look me in the eyes and say the truth about whether it's personal."

And Six did just that. She depolarized her helmet slightly, nothing that could identify her, just so her eyes stood out slightly against the rest of her face. And she did look him in the eye and said "It is personal, but it's also important he's taken out. He'll get others to follow him and hunt us down. We need to take him down before he takes us down."

Sam saw she truly meant it. But he also knew it would be futile. The ship would be more heavily secured, and the Field-Marshal would be expecting them, and plan for it.

Even if they took him down, they'd never make it back out.

"Let me put it this way." Sam said. "Do not go after him. He's a target of opportunity, but do not chase him at the cost of your objective. I'm ordering you to do so."

"Small detail you forgot: I outrank you."

"But I outrank you" sounded a voice behind them.

They both turned, and saw both John and Keyes standing there, looking at the both of them.

Six looked at them, and asked "How much did you hear?"

"Only the latter part about the odds" Keyes said. "I want to know what is going on. The entirety of it."

John, however, cut in. "An elite field-Marshal. The same one that had killed part of her team. She likely saw him standing there, looking at us as we left."

Keyes nodded. "While I do wan't to take the bastard out, and disorganize the Covenant bastards. I do, however, believe that we can't take him down while he's on that ship, and we'll be too hard pressed to track him down. Permission to track him down denied."

Six was silent, though Sam could tell she wasn't happy about it. He did understand, though, even if he didn't agree with her. Here she stood, outnumbered in an argument both by a superior and her own teammates, told she couldn't track down the killer of her past teammates. He decided to give her some comfort. "Don't worry. You'll see him again."

Six stared at him, and said "And you truly have no idea how much I look forward to it."

* * *

"Why did you hold out that object?" Zuka asked from behind him.

Fol looked at the stolen Spirit as it left the Shuttle-bay, and how it then banked, and flew out of sight.

"Psychological warfare. I have encountered this particular demon before."

"You have?" Zuka asked.

Fol couldn't blame him it was rare that a Sangheili encounters a demon and lives. And, to be honest with himself, he nearly didn't walk away from their past encounter. He had the scar across his right eye to remember that.

"On their fortress colony known as Reach." he said. It would be time for Zuka to learn Spartans didn't die as easily as most humans and Unggoy did.

"The one from where we followed their ship to this Ring?" Zuka asked.

"Yes. In fact, I was ordered, along with a team of Zealots, to take down a cannon that was providing that exact ship covering fire as it was taking off. I let others emerge, and two were immediately killed when a demon emerged from the control-booth of the Cannon. He killed two before being too badly wounded to fight. I finished it off."

He held out the shoulder-pad, along with the knife attached to it, for Zuka to see. "This I took from that particular demon, as a trophy to remember his tenacity with."

Zuka paused, and seemed to be weighing up a question. After a few seconds he asked "You seem to almost... respect the demons."

Oh, that was a tough question. For believers in the covenant faith anyway. He, like the rest of the Clan were atheists, for if gods actually existed, they wouldn't have damned them on a loose quest to a great journey, or given us means to kill each other by the thousands.

He, for once, decided to go with full blown honesty. "As you should. They are highly skilled warriors, like Sangheili driven by purpose, and have a tenacity to rarely die. They aren't some resurrected mythical demons as the San'Shyuum had us believe, but mere beings, who have been trained to fight from an early age."

He knew this because his Clan had three on the planet. Gray team, they called themselves. They weren't actual prisoners, but they weren't able to leave the planet, and they were naive to think their comms were hidden from them, even if they only used them for a distance smaller than the length of a dropship. And you would be surprised what you could pick up from beings who had been stranded on your planet for over a year.

Fol continued the story. "I know this because I have fought many of them. I even have single-handedly killed 5 of them."

At this Zuka stepped back, likely in shock. It was a rare, nearly extinct occurrence for a demon to be killed by a Sangheili, but one single-handedly killing 5 of them? That would grant most a position among the Prophet's personal honor guard.

"Five?" Zuka asked. "At the same time?"

"No, though there was little time between most of them." Fol answered. "One on Harvest, two on Imber, and two on Reach. Those on Reach were all members of the same team, the one I was tasked to hunt across the planet, and to block all of their efforts."

He paused. "The Spartan, the one I mocked on the dropship, was also a member of that team, and when I killed my fifth Spartan near that Cannon, She came to take revenge."

He pointed at his eye, the scarred one. "She fought as controlled as a Sangheili elder, and yet as savage as a Jiralhanae. Wasting no energy, using all momentum to her advantage. She managed to stab me in the eye. It missed my brain and major blood vessels by a millimeter. I blacked out for a few moment due to the pain, and when I came to, I watched them leave, heading apparently to the ship we followed here. I called for pick-up, asking permission to follow them. And while the Hierarchs intended to deny my, I still got assigned to this fleet."

Fol looked at Zuka, directly in the eyes, and put a hand on his shoulder. "If you wish to survive an encounter with Spartans, take no unnecessary risks, plan everything out, and leave NOTHING to chance."

Zuka was speechless. Of course he would be. He was, like nearly all of the Covenant, a firm believer in the San'Shyuum, and their so-called holiness. And yet here Fol was, openly doubting their declaration that Spartans were demons, and that Spartans were to be respected instead of hated.

Fol decided, for both his amusement and to make it clear to Zuka, to throw oil on the fire. "They don't fear you, so they won't hold back. I admire them for that. Were it not for this war I would have invited ALL of them to Sang'Katarn."

Now Zuka seemed to have enough. "WHAT? THOSE BLASPHEMERS? THOSE MURDERERS AND HERETICS? THOSE-"

"The same ones that killed many Sangheili, and yet seemed to die by so few until we COWARDLY bombarded them from orbit, to afraid to face them in battle."

Now Zuka was silent, for to that there was no good answer.

Fol turned to the hallway that led to the bridge, and started to move towards it. "Think on this, brother, and you might actually learn something from these Spartans."

He closed the door, and moved to the bridge to report to Thel what had transpired on _Truth and Reconciliation_.

'I certainly have.' He thought to himself.

* * *

The first thing Cortana thought as John moved through the impromptu briefing room was that it was a waste of space.

This was a huge room, easily fitting a scorpion tank, but there were only 2 small entrances: one that led deeper into the complex, and one that led outside, to the entrance that Lieutenant Mckay had used to assault the complex. She noted that a grate was visible from that entrance.

And it was now being used as a mere briefing room.

She couldn't help but wonder at how the beings that had built this place thought this room should be used,but since there wasn't an accessible forerunner terminal anywhere in this place, she likely wouldn't find out.

She turned her attention to the briefing just as John finally arrived at a folding table someone had set up.

She took note of all the members participating in the briefing. To John's immediate left stood Noble Six, Spartan B312, the 'Lone wolf' as Halsey had called her. It was odd that she had been called to work in a team, as she was more effective alone, but Cortana saw the others got along well with her, and Six had saved her life a few times. Aszod, the Autumn, Halo. Cortana trusted her. Six looked tense, though, and Cortana made a note to ask her about it later.

To her left stood Sergeant Johnson. He had fought in a lot of battles on this ring, and likely even in the war as well. He had experience, was skilled, and could motivate his troops. He had fought often alongside the spartans, and thought highly of them as well.

To his left stood Keyes, standing with his pipe in his hand, even if he didn't smoke it. It was an odd, antiquated pipe, and Cortana thought he had it either as a gift from an ancestor or to calm his own nerves, something to chew or grab hold of even if it did nothing.

Silva stood beside him, looking displeased at having all the spartans here, but, like Johnson, Keyes had the Spartans in high regard. Silva wouldn't object to anything here.

Mckay was there as well, holding a datapad, and was likely having something in mind to bring forward in this meeting. Cortana already knew what it was about, but she knew Humans had a knack for wanting to do some things themselves, and she left Mckay to it.

Next to her stood Staff-Sergeant Marcus Stacker. He had helped the Spartans take down a group of Spec-ops soldiers on the autumn, even if he served as bait and was already running away from an impossible scenario. He was quite experienced, and had served alongside Johnson for quite a few times.

Sam and Linda, standing next to him, completed the circle. Cortana noted Six and Sam stood quite a bit apart. Had it something to do with why Six was tense? Maybe the Field-Marshal? She added to the note to ask Sam as well.

"Alright," Keyes began. "We have a few things to discuss. First: Halo's control room. I have been talking with Cortana and Wellsley about how to find it, and I think we have plan. Cortana, If you would be so kind?"

"What a gentlemen." She quipped. "I have intercepted chatter on the Covenant battlenet talking about what they call a 'Silent Cartographer', claiming it functions as some sort of 'map room', detailing every location on the ring. If we can capture it, we can use it to find the control center."

"Coordinates place it on an Island 200 kilometers up-spin." Wellsley added. "It is easy to take, and it is isolated enough that the Covenant will take a lot of time deploying reinforcements on it."

John stepped forward, always one to take the initiative. "Sir, permission to lead the mission to the Cartographer."

"Granted" Keyes immediately said. "We need Cortana to properly translate all those symbols anyway, so I see no reason not to." John nodded, and he stepped back.

"Sir." Silva said. "Would it not be better we deploy my ODST's? They are qualified to hold the position, and they can quickly deploy to the control room once we have it's location."

"Denied." Keyes said.

"Sir-" Silva interrupted.

"Let me finish. Denied, because I have another mission for your ODST's. We are currently running low on supplies, and I want your ODST's to raid the wreck of the Autumn and take as many things as you all can carry. Be it weapons, rations, medical supplies, anything that this base can use."

Silva nodded, satisfied that his men had something to do, at least. "Yes sir."

Keyes looked at him. "This part you'll like a bit less. I want to send on of the Spartans with you, as an assurance you have enough firepower."

Silva's mood soured, but he nodded. "Understood, Sir."

"Excellent" Keyes said. He then turned to Mckay. Now, two other things. Lieutenant Mckay here has spotted increased Covenant activity in several regions while you were rescuing me." He nodded at her.

"There are 2 primary locations." She began. "One is some sort of temple, or Shrine. The Covenant have a lot of forces focused there, and I thought it would be appropriate to crash that party." Stacker and Johnson smirked at that.

Before Mckay could continue, Linda stepped forward. "Sir, permission to investigate the Shrine."

Keyes looked at her, then asked of Six "Has she recovered enough from the surgeries for a mission on her own?"

Six nodded. "If she can fight hunters and keep you secure on the Covenant vessel, then I trust her to handle the Covvies at the Shrine."

Keyes looked displeased "I admit I'd rather keep you secure for a few more days.". Linda started to sound an objection, but then he nodded. "Granted. Against my good conscious."

Linda stepped back, and Mckay continued. "The other thing. Wellsley has located a structure in the swamps up-spin similar to this one. The on in the Swamp, however, seems to be heavily trafficked by the Covenant, with people frequently arriving and leaving. Chatter Wellsley overheard-"

Cortana discreetly coughed.

Mckay started to become slightly red. "Chatter Wellsley _and Cortana_ overheard indicates a lot of arms pass through that location. I believe it is a Covenant weapons cache, on that gets frequent resupply. I suggest we go there, steal the Silver and get out before they notice.

Keyes nodded. "Indeed. Which is why I will lead this Op."

Cortana noticed multiple people, including John, started to object, but Keyes cut them off. "I will take 2 squads, one of marines, one of ODST's, with me, as well as the only spartan that isn't assigned to a mission yet. I'll be perfectly safe." Most stepped back, satisfied he'll be properly protected.

Except Six.

Keyes, noticed, and asked "Something on your mind, Spartan?" Six seemed to weigh it down, then said "Sir, permission to join the raid on the Covenant weapons cache."

Keyes nodded. "Granted. We'll leave in sixty minutes."

He looked around the room, and asked "Anyone have anything to add?"

Johnson raised his hand. "Sir, permission to join one of these ops? I still miss a few teeth in my collection."

Keyes smiled, then said "I was planning to have you come with me to the weapons cache, leading the marines."

"Yes sir."

Johnson stepped back just as Stacker stepped forward. Keyes already spoke. "You'll be going with the Chief and provide back-up. Just in case."

Stacker immediately stepped back.

Keyes looked around. "Anyone else have a question? No? Then dismissed."

they nodded, and the Spartans moved to ready their gear.

Cortana spoke over their team com. "So, you'll be heading up to the Autumn. Care to pick a gift for the lady?"

for some unknown reason Linda burst into laughter about that, nearly doubling over from it. Sam shifted uneasily, and Six ignored it all together, not at all paying attention to it. She concluded from the way he stood John didn't have a clue.

She didn't either.

"Uhm, what is so funny about that."

"Nothing" Six said, before anyone could reply to that.

"Sure?" Linda asked.

Cortana saw Six and Linda seemed to get along really well. Then again, Linda was also an excellent lone wolf. Maybe lone wolf spartans could actually get along instead of killing each other, like REAL lone wolves sometimes did.

By the time she finished that thought, Linda's mouth likely only just started to move to continue the question. Only likely because there was no internal camera in the helmet that Cortana could check.

"Because you might never know what he could find for that drink you promised."

"Linda" Six said "Be lucky I'm going to a boring swamp instead of with you. You might receive some... 'accidental friendly fire'."

Linda laughed even more. "I'll gladly take it, once you actually offer that drink."

"Oh, shoot me"

"Only once that drink is offered."

Six looked at John, and likely Cortana as well. "How did you survive with her for decades?"

Cortana decided to joke as well, to distract Linda from Six's discomfort. Cortana saw now that Linda had on a private com had implicated something to Six about Six and Sam, and Six was now suffering from jokes about it.

For which Cortana's comment had been the catalyst.

"By staying at a distance, throwing food through the bars at feeding time, and never looking her in the eyes."

Linda immediately protested. "Oh, come on. I ain't that bad."

Cortana dived straight in. "Oh, please. I know about the collection of Covenant skulls you have on Reach. Hidden right between the sniper ammunition and the photo's of Fred. You know, the ones encircled with hearts."

 _That_ shut her up. For a second. "Now I _know_ you're just making stuff up."

"Only now?" Sam asked, glad for the break he got from an obviously sensitive subject. "I spotted it immediately. You're slipping."

and it got on like that. No longer about the subject of Sam and Six. As soon as they'd packed, they all moved to their respective groups, and left.

Cortana continued to ponder, though, that Sam had been uneasy about it as well. Immediately after Cortana's attempt at a joke.

* * *

Fol was quite surprised how fast the Prophet changed it's mind. And how he was massively misallocating resources. The meeting of the Council of masters occurred a day after the attack on the _truth and reconciliation_ , and it had been swift. The council had reconsidered Zuka 'Zamamee's proposal, and had approved of it, even before Fol entered the meeting to support him. They had, however, assigned their own special forces to track down the Spartans, and both Fol and Zuka, who Fol knew were the most experienced in dealing with spartans, weren't assigned to them.

Instead, Zuka, for his role in the defense, had been promoted to Zealot, placed, along with his Unggoy assistant, under Fol's command. And they were now going on Fol's original assignment. Checking forerunner structures to see if they could be used as a potential supply base.

A gross misallocation of a Zealot strike force.

But there was nothing he could do. He was outranked by the prophet, and Thel was occupied by correcting the Prophet's other mistakes across the Ring. He would just have to sit it out.

He saw they were arriving at the base in the swamp, and he moved to the crew-bay of their Spirit dropship.

"We are arriving brothers." He called. "Prepare to disembark in five minutes."

The others on his team nodded, and they all prepared their weapons and other gear.

There were a total of 5 zealots on his team. Zuka was there among them, and the others were all veterans from earlier engagements. He noted that two among them had been deployed on Reach as well.

He saw the facility coming up on the view-screen. It was largely an underground-facility, as he recalled from the initial briefings. Located in the middle of a large swamp, it was quite some distance from the majority of the Covenant forces. It had an elevator that went down, ending with only one stop into a large room. There was a hallway that led further into the facility, but it hadn't been explored yet.

The majority of their forces had kept weapons stashed in the large room at the bottom of the elevator, and they were properly protected by a full lance of Gru- of Unggoy.

He found himself referring to their species by their human names at an increasing rate. First the San'Shyuum, now the Unggoy. It would worry some among the Covenant, but he found it... Interesting.

He got a sense of foreboding about the facility, and moved to arm himself as well. And he did so quite more heavily than actually required.

He had a Fuel-Rod gun on his back slot, and 2 Plasma rifles stashed on his thigh armor pieces. On top of that, he had a full bandolier of grenades around his waist, and 2 Energy Swords hanging from them as well. To his surprise, he also had the knife and shoulder-plate he'd taken from the demon on Reach with him as well.

They then arrived in front of the Facility. He and his team disembarked. Most didn't seem to feel good about going here as well, as they all had plasma rifles and Plasma grenades as well.

Zuka motioned to the 12 elite guards standing in front of the facility. Fol spotted a turret overlooking the entrance as well. "Quite a lot of troops present for a mere Supply base. I don't think that it would be that important for us to be here."

"Neither do I." Fol responded "But the San'Shyuum deems this necessary, and we need to keep these weapons out of the hands of the humans."

Zuka nodded, satisfied with the answer. He knew it was foolhardy to make Fol change his mind. The others followed Fol into the facility.

The elevator was visible immediately from the outside, or at least the gap where it was supposed to be. It was forerunner-built like most of the facility, and Fol didn't understand the majority of symbols.

"Rahk" he said, referring to the Zealot with most experience of forerunner objects among them.

"You will operate the equipment on the ring, as you have the most knowledge of them among this gathering."

"Thy will be done, Field-Marshal." Rahk moved to the controls, and touched a button. Fol heard something move in the room, and looked at the hole in the floor. The elevator came up, empty. Zuka and Rahk looked surprised.

"Shouldn't there be at least a guard standing atop of the elevator? I thought the Unggoy here were more competent than that."

Fol mulled that over. He had read the reports about this facility, and had shared most of what he knew. What he didn't tell was that TWO teams had been assigned to investigate this facility. One of them was supposed to be guarding the room down below. The other, consisting of Spec-ops Elites and a pair of Jackals, was assigned by the prophet to investigate the facility further, the same task Fol and his team were supposed to perform right now.

The second team had never returned, and it had been 2 days since they went in.

"Likely they merely need a little discipline. We'll deal with that when we go inside."

He then took the initiative, and stepped on the platform. The others followed suit. Rahk touched the controls again, and the elevator rose slightly before descending into the hole below.

They arrived into the room below, and Fol immediately was suspicious. The Grunts that were supposed to guard the room were nowhere to be seen.

"Alright" Zuka said. "Now I'm angry. Have those idiots been exploring on their own? WITHOUT calling ahead, or leaving someone behind to guard the elevator? This is dereliction of duty. Heresy, even."

"Silence!" Fol said, louder than he intended. "There could be a good explanation for this. But in the event there isn't" He grabbed his plasma rifles. "Shoot at anything that isn't one of our own."

Thy all nodded, even the grunt assistant. They all grabbed their weapons, and moved to the hallways, Rahk opening doors where necessary.

After a few minutes they found the missing grunts. And Fol immediately got more tense.

They had entered a corridor that lead to a large hallway with a light-bridge up top. Zuka accidentally stepped too close to an unlocked door, and it's motion sensors signaled it to open. And inside were the grunts.

Torn apart, with multiple pieces of them, like arms and here and there a leg. missing. There was blood on the walls everywhere they looked in the room. And Fol saw that one grunt had even been ripped open, with his innards and broken bones visible, scrambled while inside the body.

Zuka and the others looked shocked at the violence, and the grunt accompanying them, Yayap he recalled, was whimpering at their corpses.

Fol examined the corpses. This was not the work of the humans, even if they were here. It was just to messy. Humans worked with efficiency, like the Sangheili. They merely shot at their enemies, sometimes even if they had already died, either out of rage or to ensure they were really dead.

But they didn't take an enemies limbs and take them with them. They didn't rip open an enemy and mess up it's innards. They didn't gush the blood everywhere in the room. And Fol saw no bullet-wounds in any of the corpses.

"Alright, change of plans" Fol said. "This isn't done by humans. Too violent, even for them. So something else is on this ring, likely even in this very facility. We will go find out what it is."  
"We're doomed." The grunt said.

"You can always go back." Fol retorted. "But it'll be without escort, without weapons and without protective gear." He turned to the others. "You are allowed to make bets how long he'll last."

"Wait. I'll come, I'll come." It said. It started to grab the Fuel-Rod gun it had been given a little tighter. "But me not like this."

Fol agreed with that. But they still had to do this. He turned to Rahk. "Rahk, you can understand what some of the equipment does. Can you understand the inscriptions as well?"

Rahk nodded. "Not all precise meanings, but enough to get the picture."

Fol turned to the others. "Anyone who understands it better? No? Then get moving."

And they did. Fol took the lead, brandishing his swords instead, as it was too close quarters for the Fuel-Rod gun, and the rifles wouldn't immediately take down a target in these hallways.

After fifteen minutes, they entered a room with that had two opposite ramps leading downwards, to a locked door. It had no other entrances, so they went on. Rahk stopped them.

"Wait." he pointed to the other alcove, a seeming dead end to Fol. "there are inscriptions over there. Let's read them in case it's a warning."

Fol agreed with that, and signaled the others to guard both ramps and the locked door, just in case.

Fol motioned to Rahk. "Go on, but read aloud. So i have a rudimentary understanding of the situation as well."

Rahk nodded, and stood in front of one of the walls. Fol saw that there were indeed on one of the walls.

Rahk was mumbling, likely going through multiple meanings in his head before saying things out loud. But what he said first confused Fol.

"This doesn't make any sense. It seemingly says "Don't enter, for a flood seemingly awaits beyond. If entered, Protocol breached. Advice" and something I can't read next, though I recognize them as numbers. Then comes "Guilty Spark. Engage sentinels to put down..." Rahk paused. ""Intersection? Invasion? Infestation?" It means one of these things. But that's it."

Fol thought, and knew he was forgetting something. He thought back to all encounters with Forerunner tech he'd had. The ruins of Tah, the T-shaped key, the tunnels underneath the Citadel, the-

Wait.

The tunnels. He had read inscriptions there as well, and a San'Shyuum interpreter had said they talked about a disease, an infestation, a parasite. Back then Fol didn't bother thoroughly examining it. The interpreter had called it...

Then it clicked in Fol's mind. An infestation. The Parasite...

He immediately motioned his troops away from the door. "Stay back. Now! Get Away from there!" The others, surprised by his urgency, immediately moved away from the door.

Zuka moved to his side. "What is it? What's going on?"

But Fol wasn't listening. Oh, what a mistake the Prophet had made. Oh, Stewardship, the FOOL. He had doomed them all by sending them here. Maybe that was why he had sent them, because he recognized the threat, and had sent his best to eliminate it.

"Sire, what is it?"

The Prophet had doomed the entire fleet by sending them here. He had doomed the entire Covenant by sending them here. The Parasite was here. His clan had one of the most extensive records in existence among the Covenant, and they had accurate records of everything.

Including the engagement of Shield-World 0459. Involving a parasitic lifeform.

"Sire!"

Fol came out of his thoughts, and immediately snapped out commands. "Rahk, make sure this door is locked down tighter than a War drum. I don't care if you have to kill a Prophet to do so, but that door STAYS LOCKED! Zuka, try to reach the forces up above, and have them lock the rest of the Facility down as tight as they can, and to kill everything on sight after ten minutes. Everyone else, move up the ramps, and guard the room above with your LIVES!"

He looked around at his men, who stood in Shock. "What are you standing around for? GET TO IT! OR I'LL HAVE YOUR HIDES!"

Now everyone started to get along with their tasks. After a moment Zuka reported "No response. We're too deep underground." Zuka nodded, then turned to Rahk. "How about locking down that door?"

"About three automated locks have been installed by the Forerunners. I'm reinforcing them as we speak, but it's taking ti-"

A horrible screech came from farther back. It was followed by plasma fire, and Fol heard one of his men scream.

"What was that?" Zuka asked.

But Fol knew. The other team must have stumbled across a similar room, and accidentally unleashed the parasite. They were all likely already infected, and had killed the grunts on guard.

And were likely attacking his team above right now.

"We're too late." He just said.

* * *

After a really long fight across the island, John finally reached it.

It had taken the better part of the day to fight his way through the island, and he had already been locked out of the facility once before.

But he had disabled the locked door, had went down a long maze of corridors, and had survived more ambushes than he had cared to count.

But now here he was, at the Silent Cartographer.

"There" Cortana supplied. "That Holo-panel should activate the map."

John, With Cortana providing instructions, accessed the map. He zoomed in on a section of the Ring. There was a canyon visible. He zoomed in even more, and he saw a shrine.

"Uh-Oh." Cortana said. She sounded slightly worried.

"What's wrong?" John asked.

"That Shrine Linda was investigating? That _is_ the Control room."

"That's not good. They'll have it even more heavily defended."

Cortana keyed John's com. "Cortana to Sierra 058, do you copy? I repeat: Linda, this is Cortana, please respond."

There was a long pause, and John was about to try it himself. But then the com opened. "This is Sierra 058, what is it?"

John immediately took over. "Linda, hold your position. New intel gained from the Cartographer indicates the shrine you're headed for _is_ the Control-Room."

There was another short silence. "That might explain I have been encountering a lot of Zealots in this area."

"Can you take the Control Room by yourself?"

"Wait one. I'm about to get a visual on it now."

And so John waited for her response. While he did so, he headed up, back outside, so he could make his way to her if the situation required it.

"I can do so myself if necessary, but I'd rather take it on with you or Sam at my side." Linda sounded.

"Understood. Stand by, I'm gonna raise Sam, see if he's returned from escorting the supply convoy."

Cortana immediately raised Lieutenant Mckay, and after a second she responded. "What is it Cortana?"

"What is your ETA on Alpha base?" John knew that if they were on schedule, she'd be fifteen minutes from the base, with the supplies taken from the wreck of the Autumn.

"ETA is thirty minutes. We're late, I know, but we had to fight through an ambush."

"Understood." Cortana responded. "As soon as you return, I require Sierra 034 to be sent to these coordinates. We have positive evidence that the Control-Room is there, and we require assistance taking it. I didn't want to take too many of Silva's resources, so I request 034's assistance."

"Roger, Cortana. He'll be there in about... 45 minutes."

"Understood. Cortana out."

John walked back out after another 15 minutes of walking through a maze of corridors, and was sighted by something horribly wrong.

There were a lot of elites standing below, a lot more than had been initially expected. He looked around, and but he couldn't find Stacker, who, with a squad of marines, had been guarding the entrance to the Cartographer.

"Over here, Chief." Stacker sounded from above, and he looked.

Stacker and his marines had climbed the structure, and were holed up in an alcove from where the elites couldn't see him.

They could see John, however.

He immediately ducked down on the platform to evade the Plasma fire that followed. He threw a grenade down into what seemed to be hundreds of elites from here, and was rewarded with screams of pain from down below.

But he knew dozens still remained. He was about to ask Cortana when their pick-up would arrive when he heard the ship approach. Foehammer sounded over the com "Come on, get aboard. Or you'll have to do more than just redo the paint-job.

The chief started to run, and Stacker and the other marines were jumping down the Structure.

John waited just outside the dropship, making sure everyone got aboard. When no one entered his field of vision for five seconds, he boarded.

"Let's get moving, Foehammer." Cortana said. "Here are coordinates and a flight plan I've worked up."

Foehammer sounded surprised. "Uh, Cortana, these coordinates are underground."

"The Covenant did a thorough seismic scan. My analysis shows Halo is honeycombed with deep tunnels, which circle the whole ring."

Foehammer sounded hesitant to John, likely for fear of damaging her bird. "I hope your analysis is on-the-money, Cortana. This Pelican won't turn on a dime."

"Look on the bright side, Foehammer. The last thing even the Covenant will expect is an aerial insertion... from underground.

John nodded, and decided to take a power-nap.

* * *

Six liked this music, though she had heard better.

Johnson, while they were halfway to the weapons cache, had put up flip music on the Pelican's speakers. Flip-Music was a music style descended from 20th and 21st century heavy metal. Johnson, like anyone listening to this kind of music voluntarily, had the volume turned up as high as possible. Six had the fortune of an audio-reducing layer called a Mjolnir-helmet that dampened it a bit from becoming too loud.

But the other marines didn't. And they didn't seem to like the music.

"Why do we have to listen to this old stuff, Sarge?" Mendoza asked.

"Watch your mouth, Son." Johnson said "This _stuff_ is your history. It should remind you grunts what we're fighting to protect."

"Hey," Mendoza retorted "if the Covenant wanna wipe out this particular part of my history, that's fine by me."

"Yeah" Bisenti added. "Better it than us."

"You ask 'em _real_ nice next time you see 'em, Bisenti" Johnson interjected against Bisenti. "I'm sure they'll be happy to oblige."

"LZ looks clear." The pilot sounded over their com. She likely didn't hear the music sounding out loud over the com. "I'm bringing us down."

Six got up, checking her armor. It was a Spartan-III's default armor, the MJOLNIR Powered Assault Armor/B variant, until they personally modified the armor with personal choices, supplied by command of course.

She hadn't changed it at all. The only identifying marks were the damaged visor due to a slash across her visor from Reach, and that she didn't keep her armor particularly clean, so blood from killed elites and such was still visible. She always claimed it was a matter of psychological warfare if anyone asked, but secretly she liked it.

Most would call her insane, and Psychologists had already declared her mentally unstable the moment she arrived at Onyx. She had ignored it, of course, and had proven to be a capable soldier.

For a time the psychologists had watched her and had their doubts about her. But the longer they stayed, the better she learned what they were looking for, and the better she hid the symptoms. And she has ever since. It's what has allowed her to continue over the entire battle on reach, and even infiltrating the insurrection for a time.

But the insurrection had shown her what she didn't have: a family, someone to care for, a legacy. All things she wanted. But it was useless to ponder it, for she knew she'd never get those things. She'd either die in the war, or commit her entire life to the UNSC because she didn't know how to properly fit into society for periods longer than 12 months.

She realized that by the time she'd come to that thought, she'd jumped out of the dropship, walked to the facility with the others, and was now waiting for Keyes by the entrance to the cache.

 _Shit_ she thought. _Pay attention to your surroundings, know what is out there, and what doesn't belong there. Or it'll get you killed._

Keyes finally arrived, and they descended on the elevator.

They hit jackpot on the bottom, but Six was still worried. The crates were all there, and on closer inspection were all filled with weapons. Six even grabbed all grenades she could find, and utilized an overshield-battery laying at the top of the crates.

But that was it, actually. For the crates were all stacked on one side, blocking off the hallway beyond. Six saw that there was also a lot of elite blood.

But no corpses the blood could have come from.

Johnson didn't seem to like it either. "And here I was expecting to have at least one fight before getting the prize."

"Why? Disappointed that you don't get to add a few teeth to your collection?"

Jenkins looked at her. "Please tell me you don't have a collection of teeth taken from dead Covvies."

"I don't have a collection of teeth taken from dead Covvies."

Jenkins looked relieved. "Thank you."

Six then pulled out her collection of oddities and dog-tags, containing hers, Carter's, Kat's, Jorge's, one of Jun's bullets, on which she had inscribed his name, given to her during their night raid... and most prominent among them, 12 Sangheili teeth hanging from a small cord. Jenkins visibly paled. "Happy to lie to a comrade any time." She said.

Johnson nodded, impressed and with a smile across his teeth. "Thanks for the reminder why I shouldn't piss you off."

"Why?" Six asked. "My good looks? My high skill?"

"Neither. Because you are one hell of a psycho."

They both laughed at that.

Keyes walked up behind them. "I'd hate to break up the party, but we've gotta move on. There might be more further in the facility."

They both nodded, and they moved to the other side of the stack of crates, where they weren't so high that they blocked the passage. They all moved through.

But they didn't find anything. No arms crates, no elites, nothing. Until 15 minutes later, when they finally encountered the corpse of an elite. Six looked the corpse over while the others secured the room.

It was very bad. It was cooked from the amount the plasma fire it had taken, but that wasn't all. It's chest had been ripped open, and it's insides, also cooked, were scrambled on the inside.

"Johnson!" She called, and he jogged over. "One-time opportunity. Want a barbecue? Right here and right now?" She then moved aside, revealing the corpse.

"hell no!" He immediately said. "This is where I cross the line."

"Eating Elites?

"Eating _overcooked_ Elites." They laughed again. He shared her (some called sick) sense of humor, then.

Another marine, Kappus, moved over, examining the corpse as well. "It's chest is torn open." he noted. Johnson moved over to have another look as well. "Which is weird, right?" Kappus continued. "I mean, look at it." He gestured at some of the innards. "Something... tore it open, and scrambled the insides."

Keyes then moved over to them. He turned to Johnson, and asked for a report. Six moved over to have her own look of the room.

She saw a glint of something in one of the walls, and she walked over to it. She instantly recognized what was imbedded into the wall by force. She had seen it a couple of times on Reach, or rather, she had seen _through_ it.

It was the scope of a Fuel-Rod gun. And the wall, on closer inspection, was filled with shrapnel from what she surmised were the remains of the gun.

She looked again at the elite, and saw it was, to her mild surprise, a Zealot. Maybe the thing overloaded in it's own hand and it went off around it's chest as it failed to throw it away in time?

No, the insides couldn't have been scrambled by that kind of explosion. In fact, the only things she knew that did that were Brutes and Drones. And those weren't sighted on either the ring or the _Truth and Reconciliation_. They would have been deployed in more force if they were here.

So why were it's innards scrambled?

They moved on out of the room.

After another few minutes, they came at another room, this one having two ramps that led downwards into a small hallway, that led into a large room with a few small 'cells'. They came at a locked door, and Kappus moved to unlock the door.

"Right" Keyes said "Well, let's get this door open, then."

"I'll try, Sir. But it looks like these covenant worked pretty hard to lock it down."

"Just do it, Son." Keyes said, rather sternly.

Kappus looked resigned. "Yes sir."

He then placed a spoofer on the wall, and waited until it had unlocked the door.

Six then looked around their hallway. She noticed a lot of blood was splattered on the wall in the alcove opposite. Then she heard the peeps that indicated the spoofer succeeded. She moved back to the group, and moved into the room last, covering their rear.

She noted that the room was, like the other rooms they had visited, was mostly empty of anything they knew.

Six heard an odd, low volume rumbling sound. Before she could point it out to the others, Mendoza spoke what she began to feel. "I've got a bad feeling about this..."

Johnson didn't like that, and started to berate him. "Boy, you've always got a bad feeling about somethi-"

He was interrupted by the other squad, who were keeping the cache secure. "Captain, Sarge. Do you read me?" he sounded panicked.

"What's going on, soldier?"

"We've got contacts, LOTS of them." He said, in a hurry, like he was being overwhelmed. "But they're not Covenant. They're just tearing through us. What the- Oh NOOOooo...!"

Only static followed that.

Johnson tried to raise him again, but to no avail. Six scanned the room. The rumbling was a lot louder now, and it sounded a lot more... organic. Like living thins moving around.

For once she was glad she had packed way to much weapons, adding a shotgun to her arsenal of 2 plasma rifles, energy swords and grenades.

"Mendoza" Johnson ordered. "Get your ass up to second squad's position, and find out what the HELL is going on up there."

"But-" he began, but Johnson cut him off.

"I don't have time for your lip, soldier. I gave you an order."

But Kappus gestured to the ceiling. "Sarge! Listen!"

everyone looked up. It was clearly audible now, not just to her augmented hearing. But yet even she couldn't pin-point the source.

"Where's that coming from, Mendoza?" Johnson asked.

He couldn't give a clear answer.

Then Six heard a sound a fraction of a second before the others. One of the 'cells' was about to burst. And when it burst open, Six was surprised, and immediately alert and ready.

They were small creatures, colored like decaying flesh. They had small tentacles, with red appendages at the end. They moved incredibly fast.

And there were hundreds of them.

"OPEN FIRE!" she yelled. And they all did, and she blasted one apart. It burst quite quickly, and it pooped another dozen of the things.

But for every one she killed, another 12 took it's place.

She looked around. _Damn, those things are everywhere_. She blasted another one that got too close, decided the rate of fire was too slow, put her shotgun on her back, and switched too her plasma rifles. This helped a lot, as she killed them a lot quicker. _Hell, even one shot from an_ Assault Rifle _kills them. But there are so many._

She looked around at the others, found Johnson and Keyes back to back, Keyes with his pistol, and joined them. She saw that the lights on the door they'd come through had turned red. And red ones were always locked.

 _Fuck._

She was surprised when dozens dropped from the ceiling above them, and their mass popped her shields. She popped one, and the usual chain reaction of dozens following ensued. Johnson and Keyes were distracted by Mendoza attempting to flee through the door. She shot one that was coming up on Johnson's flank, and covered him.

Then Kappus and Jenkins were overwhelmed. And what Six saw would horrify her for the rest of her life.

They were mutating, spasming from some chemical injected by the little bastard. Then tentacles sprouted from their left arms. And their heads were...forced sideways by an unknown organism. The organism then rapidly decayed their flesh, and their skin turned a sickly color. A color very similar to the little ones.

She holstered one of her plasma rifles and grabbed an energy sword instead. She cut one, the one that had once been Jenkins, down vertically across the middle, and it fell down. She slashed at the other one's chest, and it died. Then Six saw the next thing that would haunt her.

One of the little things was in Kappus' chest.

Six stomped it before it could leave the body, and turned to the others.

Johnson was covering Bisenti, who was removing one of the little ones from their last unaccounted soldier, Riley. Mendoza was slumped against the door, dead. And Keyes...

Oh no.

Keyes was starting to mutate as well, looking at her.

She hesitated. On one level, these things were dangerous, and Six didn't know how fast the things learned stuff once they had control of the bodies, and the vital data Keyes had must be kept safe from the Covenant,and these things as well.

On the other hand, Keyes was her Superior, and he had come back for her on Reach, sending Foehammer to pick her up. She considered him a friend, like she did with Johnson.

She looked at Keyes' pleading eyes, and made a call. She holstered her blade.

And rapidly grabbed her shotgun and shot Keyes in the chest, around where the little bastard would be.

She moved to his corpse, and was about to check if he was truly dead, when the thing that once was Keyes got up, and jumped her, along with the corpse of Kappus. they had her arms and legs pinned with those tentacles in a second, her shotgun to far out of reach. And the little things were starting to swarm her. She was done for, and started saying goodbye to the world.

To Jericho VII, to Noble team, to her memories of Reach.

Her memories of Blue-team.

 _And of Sam. Damn it, Linda, why do you have to be right on this one?_

Then a shotgun blast sounded, twice, and the weight on her arms lifted. She hit one of the little ones with a back-handed slap, and dozens around her body burst.

The one that was Kappus got up, and one of the little ones was in his chest again. She grabbed it at the limbs, and threw it at another of the blasted things.

Six saw to her horror the one she hit used to be Bisenti.

She looked around for her Shotgun, and saw Johnson standing there, holding it out for her, stock towards her.

She took it.

They both looked around, and for once it was quiet. No little things crawling around. No doors about to burst.

And no other teammates alive besides Johnson.

She once again began to make her way towards Keyes' corpse.

"What are you doing?" Johnson asked, his voice subdued.

Six got at the thing that used to be Keyes, and started to ruffle through the remains around where his head used to be.

 _There. His CNI. Those things can't have that._

She held them up, for Johnson to see. "We don't know how intelligent they are or how intelligent they can become. I don't want them to have this. It is just as valuable as Cortana, for it contains Earth's coordinates."

Johnson nodded, and started to go through the other corpses as well, either transformed and not, though only Mendoza wasn't . Six knew he was either looking for dog-tags or ammunition. Either she could understand.

After a while she joined him, grabbing one of the fallen's assault rifle, and grabbed as much ammunition as he could.

As she looked at one of the corpses, Jenkins', she got an idea. She grabbed one of the helmets and started the recorder. Thankfully, it remained undamaged.

"If any UNSC forces find this, this is Spartan B312, otherwise known as Six. I was assigned with captain Keyes to investigate and raid a possible weapons cache. Instead, we encountered small, unidentified lifeforms, and they turned nearly all of us into... I don't know what, but something horrible." She sighed, then moved the helmet showed Johnson, grabbing Keyes' Pistol from his corpse.

"Johnson and I were the only survivors. If you encounter the creatures, the small ones die quite easily, with only a single round from an assault rifle. The large ones die with a single blast from a shotgun. If you find this, I hope you'll learn from this. We're attempting to reach the surface, but I don't know if we'll make it." Six paused again.

"If any members of Blue-team find this, It's been an honor, and I hope I'll see you in hell." she halted the recorder, and tossed the helmet to the ground.

After hit the ground, the door turned green again, like on a signal from God. They both went through it. Six saw as she went through that Johnson had a tentacle still in his neck, and had penetrated his skin. She immediately stopped.

"Don't. Move." She said silently. Johnson stopped, and stood almost completely still.

She grabbed the tentacle, and warned him. "This might hurt.". She then yanked it out, and Johnson yelped. He turned, and she dropped the tentacle into his hand. "This was in your skin."

Johnson turned white, which was quite an achievement, considering how dark his skin was.

Then the realization hit her as well.

Everyone else also had those things piercing their skin around their neck. They went after her neck as well. It was where they had focused their attacks, and most of the others had been turned by it.

And Johnson had been walking around with it for minutes, and he hadn't turned.

"What are you?" Six asked "Physically, I mean. You aren't an ordinary human, or you'd be turned as well."

Johnson looked away. "That's classified."

"Oh, don't give me the ONI-Bullshit Johnson. I know you are different. Think about it. If you are immune, you have been altered. And you know as well as I do that that can be very dangerous."

Johnson paused for a moment, sighed, then sat down in the earlier seen alcove, gesturing for her to join him. "You ever heard of the _Orion_ project?"

"No"

"Well, I'll give you the no-bullshit version of what it is, no page unturned, no shitpile left standing."

Six nodded.

"I was recruited by ONI for it, offered some extra money. I figured 'why not?' and accepted. I was given training even more intense than that of normal marines. After a while, I got some medication along with some 200 or 300 others." Johnson was silent after that. "I, and four others, were the only ones that could walk away from it."

Six was listening intently now. This sounded a lot like what her friend Jorge had been through. What all Spartan-II's and some Spartan-III's had gone through. Could it be that this... _Orion_ was the predecessor of the Spartan-Programs.

"After that, I was shipped back to the marine corps, and told that if anyone asked, I was told to tell people I had Boren's syndrome. And before you ask, They made up that the disease just to cover up the _Orion_ project."

Six nodded. "I was wondering why it was so rare and wasn't treated at all."

"Anyway, I think that the stuff they gave me made me... immune."

Six nodded, then got up. "We've gotta move on. I think you noticed as well there was a lot of Covenant blood in the hallways, and no corpses. I'd bet my salary,if I had one, on that they were already infected, and are walking around out here, trying to take us."

Johnson nodded, and started to get up. But then frowned. "Wait, you don't get salary?"

Six sighed, then sat down again. "What you got as training, the medications... It was likely the predecessor of the Spartan program."

"Ha-Ha" Johnson said. "And why is that, huh?" Six sighed again, the looked at Johnson, straight into his eyes. "I was taken as an orphan child, asked if I wanted to kill the Covenant. Seeing as I lost my family to them, I said yes."

She paused, and Johnson was listening intently to her now.

"I got a lot of training. Quite heavy, considering what I saw ODST's got as training."

Johnson's mouth dropped a few centimeters. "You saw ODST training, and considered it light?"

"Yes. Anyway, I got my augmentations at 17, and I survived. I immediately got separated from my company, asked to report to a superior, and I pounded my way through the Insurrection, similarly to the way the Chief and his team tore through the Covenant. Until a few weeks ago, when I was assigned to Noble-team. We defended Reach as it fell, until I was the only survivor."

She saw Johnson nod in understanding. He had just lost his squad as well.

"I planned to sacrifice myself by covering the Autumn with a local mass-driver, but Keyes had me picked up anyway." She paused. "I don't get salary because war is all I've known my entire life."

"How old were you when you were recruited?"

"Don't be shocked, but nine"

"Nine? Damn ONI."

Six laughed, and Johnson soon followed. They then both got up.

"Come on. It's freaks against Freaks." Johnson said.

"May the best Freak win."

They moved up the ramp, and made their way back as they'd come.

After they exited the first door they saw hell. The Elites HAD turned, and they were down there.

Dozens of turned Elites.

"Best Freak my ass." Johnson said. "Let's avoid them."

Six nodded, and they moved over the balcony, being as quiet as possible. They nearly made it to the door.

Then it hissed open, and five elite forms jumped out to join the others. And they spotted Johnson and Six immediately. They charged towards them. Six threw a grenade into their path, and they all either died or were thrown of the balcony by the blast.

Of course, the blast drew the attention of all the other forms, and they looked straight at them.

Johnson aimed at them, but Six saw there were way too many, and there were small ones creeping around on the floor as well. Then they looked back at where they'd come from, but there were turned humans coming towards them as well. Six recognized Keyes leading the charge.

Six turned to Johnson. "Like I said: May the best Freak win."

"Amen".

They then jumped into the mob, blasting away at all that moved.

They shot, the flood continued to storm them, and Six threw grenades to clear some room. They hit some of the bastards, only for them to rise again. It was never-ending, and Six would gladly continue doing so when her Shotgun clicked empty and she couldn't find any more among her belt. She grabbed her energy swords, cutting away all around her. That is, until she heard Johnson yell.

"Six, Help!"

she cut her way towards him, saw Johnson held against the wall by multiple elite forms. She slashed them apart, and helped Johnson up. He gave her the spare shells for the shotgun that she could't carry.

"It's been an honor, Johnson." She said, as there was a momentary lull in the fighting.

"Likewise." Johnson managed as he'd caught his breath.

They aimed at the flood, and prepared for the onslaught that would follow.

It never came.

A green blast sounded against the opposite wall, and the seeming Flood of turned Elites Scattered, all damaged from the blast and looking for the new source of food. They were too distracted to take a look at the prey they had.

"Take my hand, Spartan" a heavy sounded from above.

Six looked up, and saw an elite with a purple gauntlet holding his hand out.

It was an Elite's hand, and she felt horrified about taking it.

She took it.

It lifted her up, and she was back at the balcony, only on the opposite end. Six held out her hand to Johnson, and a moment later he was on the Balcony as well.

She looked around, and saw there were five elites, four crimson Zealots and a...

Six was shocked.

The Same bloody Field-Marshal was standing there, holding a smoking Fuel-Rod gun. He threw it at the mob of turned elites below. It exploded with the force of a frag grenade, and the things either fell apart, were thrown across the room or scattered, looking for the course of the attack.

"I know, I shouldn't have done this, but we're running out of ammo, and you are our best chance about getting out of here."

"And why should we help you, you murdering bastards?" Six asked, furious. The zealots tensed, and were starting to move towards her. But the Field-Marshal held his hand up, and they paused.

"Because we have experience, but no ammo. You have vice versa."

"I hate to admit it, but One-eye's got a point" Johnson interjected.

"Besides," The thing continued. "We already rescued you. You owe us the favor of getting us out of this facility."

Six looked at them, and thought it over. These elites were skilled, and they would help guide her out of the facility. They were also excellent bodies to throw at the mob if worse came to worst. But this was the same elite that killed her team. Every nerve in her screamed at her to attack, and everything she was taught told her to just slash it across the face with her sword.

But it was right. She and Johnson had just barely walked out of that mess. They had no experience with these things, and had only survived when the elites had helped them.

And she did take a debt like saving someone's life very seriously.

"On one condition: once we're outside, and our respective forces have picked us up, our cease-fire ends. No tricks, no backstabbing, no throwing at the mob to distract it."

One-eye nodded. "Deal, if you promise the same to us."

Six nodded, and made the mistake of holding her hand out for shaking. Johnson, and the other elites for that matter, stared at it in shock and rage. She realized her mistake, and was beginning to pull it back.

But One-eye shook it. And he didn't seem even the slightest bit enraged.

Six holstered her weapon, and handed her plasma rifles to two of the elites, who took them after hesitating a moment.

"Alright." Six asked. "How do we kill them?"

"It ain't that simple." One eye began. "Your projectile weaponry is most effective against them, but unless the body is cut to pieces, burned or otherwise disposed of, the little ones can easily resurrect them. Also, they can pinpoint where most sounds come from. Approximately anyway. They can't pinpoint your location if you throw grenades, but I advice against doing that too often."

"Sounds straight forward enough." Six said.

"That ain't all. They _learn_ from the dead they consume, and they take in all their knowledge to a single location to form a... the best description I can give is an organical tactical supercomputer, to coordinate their attacks. It was called a _Gravemind_ in our archives."

"Gravemind?" Johnson asked. "Sounds more like _horrormind_ to me."

"I agree" One-eye said.

"What are these things called anyway?" Six asked.

One-eye looked at her with his... one eye. Six couldn't help but laugh in herself at her own pun.

"They were called the _flood_ in the Archives on my world."

Six was about to ask for more, but they heard a screech from down below, and they knew their time was up.

"We've gotta move." Six said, and stepped towards the door. "Our exit's this way." To her surprise they all followed her. Even One-eye, who led their group.

Once they went through the first door, they were immediately set upon by Flood. Six shot most of them, and One-eye moved by her side, and covered her flank with two plasma rifles he had on his hips. Six noted they were low-charge, and prepared to hand him a sword if necessary. It didn't came to that, as like a water-tap turned of, the things stopped coming. Six looked at him, and saw he was still staring at one of the things, which looked like a former grunt.

Six was about to ask him something when he said. "This used to be one of our team members. He fell behind, locked himself in a room with a Fuel-Rod gun and was overwhelmed."

Six noted One-eye almost had a tear in his eye. "I understand." she just said. "But he ain't your friend anymore. He's the enemy. He'll always be for now on."

One-eye finally looked at her. "Are you always this straight forward? This direct?"

"Yes."

"You are a heartless monster then"

You made me one. Consider it returning the favor if you don't like it, Split-head."

One-eye was silent after that. _Was it actually hurt at that?_ Six motioned to the next door. "Let's move on. We're sitting ducks in here, and I want to get out of here.

They all went on.

They had to fight for every meter they advanced, but finally they arrived at the elevator. The Flood had really overwhelmed this place with their mindless goons, and Six had recognized a lot of human forms that attacked them.

But they were nearly there. Just this one room to clear, and they were out of here.

And it was wrong.

These things learned. If six used the elevator now, these things likely would be able to as well. She couldn't allow that, for they'd spread all around the ring, take a ship, and fly to the nearest populated world to feed.

And the next one after that was done. And the next.

Six made a call.

She moved to the holographic control panel while the others cleared the room, and as soon as the final Flood form was defeated, blasted it's emitters to smithereens.

The others all raised their weapons at her. Even Johnson. "Are you crazy?" One of the Zealot's asked. "Now we can't get out. We're locked in."

"That's precisely the point." Six retorted. "If we use it now, the flood will learn from this as well. They'll be able to use it, get up to ground level, and we'll have given them a way out of this facility."

"You have doomed us all." one of the zealots said. Johnson and One-eye, however, lowered their weapons.

They understood it as well. If Flood were to escape this place, everything could potentially die out. And that meant they had to stay here.

And die if necessary.

"This is suicide." One of the other Zealots said.

"If that's what it takes to protect life as it it, then I'd happily take that route."

Two more of the elites lowered their weapons, Rahk and Zuka she remembered from stray comments. Now the last two.

And they were stubborn.

"So you escape." Six said "Then what? The flood follow you, they infect either you or your pick-up, and you'll die, know you have doomed your kind.

They didn't lower their weapons. But they did start to look more uncertain. "The prophet will find a way." Then help came from an unexpected corner.

One-eye.

"The Prophet? He'd shoot us just to ensure the Parasite doesn't spread, too paranoid to consider whether you're truly infected or not. And besides, he's been mishandling the situation ever since we arrived at the ring. You all know this to be true. It took an attack on his own ship to even consider the Spartans a threat." He paused, then looked at them. "If you truly desire escape, give up. If we escape, then we WILL be followed by this monstrosity. It will hunt us down in order to take all we know. And where will your wives, your keeps be? Where?"

At this the last ones finally lowered their weapons. Johnson spoke up. "I saw a small room some way back. I'm all about getting out of here, but I'd rather make a last stand against these things."

Six nodded, and One-eye moved back to the door they came through.

After a few minutes they arrived. It was indeed small, in a small corridor that could serve as an ideal chokehold should the things swarm them.

Six had an idea, and said "Stay here."

"And where are you off to?" One-eye asked.

"Hauling a few crates over here to barricade the room. Make it easier to stall them and pick them off."

One-eye nodded, and after half an hour they were all set up, waiting for the assault.

"I know you are highly skilled." One-eye said. "I will be honored to fight, and die, at your side. What is your name?"

"Six. I have another, but not even my team-mates know it."

"Well, 'Six', It will be an honor to have known you."

Six looked at him, and saw something in his eye. She didn't know what it was, but somehow she knew he meant it.

"Likewise. Die proud." She just said.

Johnson fumbled in his pocket, and Six saw he was grabbing both his cigar and... a data chip and data pad. Six laughed.

"What's so funny?" Johnson asked.

"Here we are, about to make our final stand, and yet here you are, setting up really loud music while lighting a 'Sweet William'."

"Hey, if you're gonna die, you might as well do so with something enjoyable."

"Amen." One-eye interjected.

Six looked at him. "What is your name, anyway?" she asked of him.

"Fol Katarn'ee, Field-Marshal."

Six nodded. "Well, Fol. For what it's worth... His music's set to real loud."

Fol didn't notice she was joking, and just nodded. "Noted."

Six then looked at Johnson. He shrugged, and they all turned to the doorway, ready for anything.

* * *

John and Sam were finally approaching Linda's position, and they were worried.

They hadn't been able to reach the captain for hours, and Cortana reported a likewise futility with Six and the others present. And John saw it was getting to Sam. He had fidgeted when he had arrived a few minutes after John, and had been silent except when asked something or reporting covenant forces. It wasn't his usual joking manner he had earlier.

John and Sam opened the final door.

Only to look into the barrel of Linda's sniper rifle.

"I surrender." John said, trying to lighten Sam's mood. It worked slightly, for he laughed.

"Oh, you don't surrender. You later sneak up on them when their back is turned, and later kick them in the back."

Linda lowered her rifle. "Finally. I was about to break out the rations."

"That desperate?" John asked, referring to the terrible taste rations have had over all the centuries.

"Yep." she gestured over the edge. "I managed to take care of most of the infantry. There is one nuisance down there I can't take down, though."

Sam looked over the edge.

And immediately jumped back as a large, blue ball of Plasma hit the underside of their bridge.

"A Wraith. Hundreds of potential targets, and you leave US with the Wraith." Sam asked, looking sobered up with the potential threat of the tank.

Linda nodded, smiling behind her helmet. "Yes, and don't whine as much. I can see the rocket-launcher on your back, you know."

John looked the other way, and saw a large Shrine-like building standing there. "That's the control-room?" John asked.

"Yes." Cortana said. "You should be able to gain entrance through it from the elevator on the other side of the bridge."

"Let me guess: It also brings us on the same ground level as the wraith?"

"I thought you liked a challenge. Was I wrong?"

Sam laughed. "Well, John HAS been squeamish about engaging wraiths since Sigma Octanus."

"Can't blame him, though. YOU lured it towards him, after all." Linda interjected

"And would do it again in a heartbeat."

"Let's get moving then. We've stood still long enough." John said.

They all nodded, and moved across the bridge. They had to evade the occasional blast from the wraith, but they made it. They boarded the elevator, and went down. John was surprised at what waited below.

Two stealth elites talking to a hologram of someone in a chair with a lot of ornate decorations. John sneaked up on them, trying to catch what they were saying.

"must be contained." The hologram said. At least it was what Cortana first picked up and translated.

"Yes, Holy One." The lead stealth elite replied. "What about the machines? They are holy constructs, are they not?"

"Destroy them if they engage you, but otherwise ignore them. They have tasks assigned to them by the gods, and it would be sacrilege to interfere."

"Yes, holy one."

The hologram flickered out from it's pedestal, Covenant placed he noted, and they turned around.

And one received a shotgun blast from John into the face, breaking it's shield and hitting it in the face.

It's fellow turned to engage John, but didn't notice as Linda put a round through it's head.

Both were down on the ground.

"What were they talking about?" Sam asked as he and Linda caught up with John.

"I've picked up multiple reports on the Covenant Battlenet about odd, flying machines emerging from structures. They don't seem to do anything beyond hovering around."

"'Destroy if they engage'." John quoted. "I don't think that's merely hovering."

"Maybe we can bribe them into killing the Covenant _for_ us." Sam joked.

"Ha-Ha. And what if they engage us first?" Cortana asked.

"Then we throw Sam to them first" Linda said.

"HEY!" Sam said, taking false offense at that.

John just shook his head. "Let's keep moving."

They got outside. The Wraith wasn't visible from their position, but John knew it was there, waiting for them.

"Linda, we go and take the left flank, distracting it. Sam, move across the right flank, and hit it in the rear."

"No need to avoid bad words John." Linda said, picking up on his attempt to lighten Sam's mood. "You can just say 'Hit it in the ass.'"

"Don't you two ever run out of ways to make me miserable?" John asked.

"No: I keep them on a good supply." Cortana interjected. If she was able on pick up on Sam's mood even if he wasn't always in her field of vision, then it really was getting bad.

"I was wondering why it were always bad jokes by the end of the evening."

"Blame yourself. I get them from YOUR brain."

"Ouch" Linda said.

Sam then said "Let's move on." He then moved to the right flank, Rocket launcher in hand.

Linda and John got on the left flank, seemingly just shooting at the tank to no effect. It turned towards them.

Sam choose that moment to attack. But instead of firing a rocket, he boarded it's rear, planted a grenade in the turning thing at it's rear, and jumped off. The Wraith turned to him, and the gunner at the small plasma turret aimed at him.

And immediately went up in a nice shower as the tank blew up.

John and Linda walked over to him, observing the wreckage. "Show-off." Linda muttered.

Sam chuckled. "I heard that. You're just jealous you can't copy it."

"Like you're able to do it again." John said. "But let's get up there."

It was quite a walk across all the ramps, but they made it. John opened the doors, and they saw what was beyond. It was a giant hallway, able to easily fit in an M313 Heavy recovery vehicle, called an Elephant by marines, and still keep driving.

"Roomy. Just like your head." Cortana said.

"Ha-ha-ha."

they followed it until they came at another door, and Sam this time opened it.

This room was even larger, to the point that two Longsword fighters could easily be parked side by side. It had a central walkway, that turned circular as it got to the center. In the room a giant hologram of Halo, Threshold and the small moon Basis was visible. John noticed about a third of the ring was patched red, though it was spread around the ring.

At the end of the Circular platform, John saw a console, and he moved towards it. Linda kept guard near the door in case they missed any Covenant and they decided to sneak up towards them. Sam followed him.

He inserted Cortana's data chip, and she appeared massively over the console. A lot of colors appeared to be swirling across her body. Sam noticed as well. "Are you all right?" He asked.

"Never been better!" She immediately said, like it was a very good thing she was in there. Her avatar was looking all around the room. "You can't imagine the wealth of information! The knowledge, so much, so fast! It's glorious!"

John nodded. "So" he asked. "What sort of weapon is it?"

She immediately turned to him. "What are you talking about?"

"Let's stay focused." Sam said to her. "What kind of weapon is Halo, and how do we use it against the Covenant?" John saw him also silently add to himself 'And where is Six goddammit'

"It's not a Cudgel, You dumb barbarians. It's something much more important."

John and Sam looked at each other, and John saw Sam was clueless as well. _What the hell is she going on about?_

"The Covenant were right... This ring... It's Forerunner. Give me a second to access."

Linda was coming up on them as well, interested in the commotion. "What is going on?"

"Cortana is high" Sam said, dead-pan.

"I was asking John."

"I don't know f-"John started, but Cortana interrupted him.

"yes, the Forerunners built this place, what they called a "fortress world", in order to..."

She then paused for a full second. Then her avatar took on a horrified expression.

"No, that can't be. Oh, those Covenant fools. They must have known, there must have been signs."

"Alright, slow down NOW." John said. He was getting worried, even though Cortana didn't make sense. "You've lost us, and we don't think as fast as you. Go t it at OUR pace."

Cortana nodded. "The Covenant found something buried on this ring. Something horrible. And now they're afraid."

Sam tilted his head. "Something scared the Covenant? That is som-"

But Cortana interrupted again.

"The Captain! Six! We've gotta stop them."

Sam immediately snapped back to her. "Six? What is it."

Cortana actually paused, looking at him. "The weapons cache they're headed for. It's not really- We can't let them get inside."

Linda stepped forward as well. "Wha-" Cortana interrupted again. She really wasn't gonna let them finish talking. "Look at all the red areas on the hologram of Halo. THAT's how far the things have spread."

John looked again. _A third of the ring covered? Damn, it had spread fast._

"Now GO!" She gestured for them to go. "Find Six. Before it's too late." at that, Sam started running back outside, already calling Foehammer for pick-up. John and Linda sprinted after him.

John caught up with him, though Sam was running so fast Kelly would have been impressed. "She isn't dead." He told him. "She's rated Hyper-lethal. She's just as good, if not better than, me. You yourself saw her tackle a Field-Marshal and live. She'l pull through."

Sam just kept running on, until they were outside. Linda was still sprinting to catch up.

Foehammer was just entering the canyon, her engines roaring. Sam seemed to be very eager to get aboard.

At last Linda caught up, skidding to a stop. John decided to drop the proverbial bombshell. "How much do you care about her? No jokes or other stuff to avoid it this time."

Linda froze on the spot at that, and Sam looked away. "I consider her one of our own, similar to you, Linda and the others."

"Sure it's just that?" John asked.

Sam looked into his eyes this time. "I will tell you when I know the answer to that myself."

John nodded. Foehammer finally descended enough that they could jump in. They all did.

"Where to, guys?" Foehammer asked.

"Keyes' last known location." John immediately said. "And don't spare the horses. He might be in trouble."

"Roger." Foehammer immediately said. "I'm en route."

John turned to the sides of the pelican, above the seats, and spotted some ammo. He immediately began stocking up on ammo and weapons. He looked at what they had as well, in terms of weapons.

He had a shotgun, an Assault rifle and a M6D pistol. Linda had a sniper rifle and a Shotgun, and eh assumed she was low on ammo as she started reloading her weapon with a clip from one of the racks. Sam had an assault rifle and a rocket-launcher. He was still loaded up high on ammo, and didn't really need to pick any of it, but he started taking ammo as well.

Linda reassured Sam "She'll be fine. Relax. We're a few hours out anyway, so you might as well take a nap."

Sam nodded, though he didn't look at her.

John looked at him, and started to become more worried as well as he thought more about what Cortana had said.

 _Something buried_

 _They're afraid._

 _Those covenant fools_

 _there must have been signs_

It really was bad if it had Cortana that rattled.

And that meant Six really was in trouble.

* * *

 **There you go, you bastards. Go ahead and hope for more content of this story.**

 **I hope to release more soon, but until end Februari I'm gonna try (Please no Yoda quotes about 'do or do not') to focus more on school projects, and the rate of uploading new chapters will suffer from this.**

 **One minor Question: I'm planning to do First Strike after finishing this, but What do you want me to do after that? Fall of reach first (also depicting Fol's role in the Human-Covenant war, as well as the life of Blue-team (Including John, Kelly, Sam, Fred and Linda) and Noble Six) Or Halo 2, 3 and the AU I'm busy making afterwards. Your vote decides which one goes first.**

 **I hope I can post more soon.**

 **With kind regards**

 **Gharst Omenlumin**


	6. Chapter 6

**And here's another chapter, there for anyone reading this. I'll be honest, and say I don't know for sure if I'm keeping in line with character personalities, and I'd like some feedback about whether I'm doing well. same goes for my action scenes.**

 **disclaimer: I don't own Halo, or Six would have been in the first game**

* * *

Chapter 6

Sam woke up, but this time he woke with a start.

They were traveling over the swamps for minutes now, looking for a clear landing zone.

And Sam was more agitated than ever. He had thought about it just before he slept, and while he didn't know what it was he felt for her, he had managed to narrow it down to either two things: like a sister, being protective, even if she could kick his ass many times over, or... something more.

And he didn't know which one he wanted more.

The others were starting to wake up as well, and he began to hand them their weapons. But he couldn't tell them. He promised them he would tell them when he knew for sure, and he didn't.

"The last transmission from the Captain's dropship was from this area. That was over twelve hours ago. And we haven't had contact with the Captain or his team since." Foehammer said over the intercom.

Sam nodded, and was the first one out. John and Linda followed a second later.

"When you locate the captain, radio in, and I'll come pick you up."

"Sure. Will you bring Pizza as well?" John asked, in a futile attempt to lighten his mood. Sam couldn't help but notice that John seemed worried as well.

"Only if you pay in cash." Foehammer replied jokingly, before flying off, disappearing into the fog.

"Let's move" John said, and they started off. They had barely made it 15 meters, though, before they spotted something worrisome.

A crashed pelican. And no bodies in sight.

"Did we just land right next to this ship without noticing?" Linda asked.

"Seems like it. The fog is really thick, so it ain't impossible." John replied.

"I'm more worried that someone managed to take down a dropship, and that we haven't heard about it." Sam interjected "Besides, where are the bodies?"

He moved into the Cockpit, and saw no bodies there either. The pelican was deserted. He moved back out.

"Emptier than our supply of empathy for elites" He reported. "Not even the bodies of the Pilots are present."

"Odd, but we won't find out anything more by staying here." John said. "The facility they were headed to is that way, so let's keep moving.

And they did. In the end they found one more Covenant dropship, and a whole lot of scared Covenant. Strangely, there were no elites among them at all, either dead or alive. They were in the process of crossing a large log to the other side of the swamp when Sam's motion sensor went haywire.

With Friendlies.

"Contacts, three o-clock." He said. They all turned to the right, and looked.

There was nothing to see, for the Fog was too thick. They were about to turn back to their objective, when Linda seemed to tense.

"See something. Weird shape, and seems to have... tentacles?"

Sam looked at what she was looking at, and sure enough, there was something. It just jumped behind a boulder, though, so Sam couldn't see it clearly.

"Keep moving, but watch for more of them." John said. "The captain still is nowhere to be seen, so we ain't done yet."

at that, they all got moving. After 5 minutes, they got at the entrance to the facility. It was guarded quite heavily, with 2 shade turrets present, as well as 3 lances of grunts and jackals.

They seemed to be disorganized, though. And terrified. And they were all all facing the entrance instead of the surrounding area.

Like they were there to keep something in instead of out.

"Alright." Linda said. "This is getting weird. First: No elites whatsoever. Second: They all seem more terrified of something other than us. Third: No dead bodies whatsoever."

"Yeah. Did they decide to have a mass-funeral or something?" Sam asked. He was finding as well. For Six went inside that building as well.

So they were going in as well.

They all got out of cover, and dealt with the force in record time. It was over in twelve seconds, and the Shades were smoking, and all the grunts and jackals were riddled with bullet-holes.

Sam looked at the entrance, and saw a lift there, waiting for them.

It set of at least fifteen alarm bells in his head.

"Before we go in" Sam said "Have it noted that I don't like this."

"Noted." John said. "But one of ours is in there, and we need to get her out. And the captain as well, if possible."

They all nodded, and stepped onto the elevator. John hit the controls, and it went down.

Sure enough, after half a minute it arrived at a covenant weapons cache. And the marines had passed here as well. There was a small UNSC beacon placed between two crates.

There was blood on the floor as well. Human blood.

"This is getting serious." Sam said. "Plasma shots mostly cauterize the wounds. Same with energy swords. So where did all that blood come from?"

"Let's keep moving." John said, ignoring the question. No, none of them liked what was going on here.

Linda paused at the controls. "The controls here are damaged. A frag grenade did this." Linda paused, and she looked Sam in the eyes, with the special optics of her armor. "Someone wanted to trap everyone down here."

"Maybe afraid of what we saw topside?" Sam guessed. "Mr. tentacle perhaps?"

"Let's get moving and find out" John said, getting impatient with him and Linda.

They moved for a short time, spotting only light resistance from a few jackals and grunts trying to get to the elevator. Then they spotted what Sam could only surmise as a body storage room.

It was a one-doorway room. Filled with corpses of multiple grunts, and their blood was splattered all around the walls, even extending now into the hallway. Sam noticed some of them were missing limbs.

"Even I don't dismember like that. Not without cleaning up, anyway." He said, trying to lighten the mood with a joke.

It didn't work this time, for Linda turned to him. "Then what _did_ do this, then? Ever thought of that?"

"It was only a joke"

"I don't appreciate it."

"I'll shut up, then." Sam finished, his mood much more sober than before.

The next room was even worse.

It had crates scattered all around the room, with drag marks coming from them and heading their way, Likely heading for the cache seen earlier. There was a large amount of elite blood splattered across them. There were spent shell casings scattered around the room, so much that Sam briefly thought he could skate across them.

There was no sign of bodies, whatsoever. Not even of any dead assailants.

"Sam?" John called. He was near one corner of the room. He and Linda made their way towards him.

John was pointing to a shotgun. It was covered in elite blood, and there were words written in elite blood just below it. English words.

'hit it at the red appendages on the chest'

 _Well, that's foreboding._ Sam thought.

"Sam, you can joke again. It was more fun that way." Linda said, and Sam could tell she was unnerved by this.

"If I knew any appropriate jokes, I'd have already uttered them. At this point, though, I would be happy to even _find_ a human being, alive or dead."

John gestured to the only other unlocked door in the room, aside from the one they came through. They went in.

Only to be shot at with a pistol.

Sam and the others immediately ducked behind a corner. Sam saw before he did, that it was a marine.

And he looked like he was about to piss himself out of fear.

"Stay Back, you're not turning me into one of those things!" he yelled at them.

John jumped out, immediately crossed the distance between them, and grabbed his fire-arm. He pulled it away and disarmed him.

Linda and Sam were coming out as well, and approached the marine.

"What happened, soldier?" Sam asked.

"Don't touch me, you freaks!" He yelled at them. "I won't be like you, I'll die first."

Sam and Linda shared a quizzical look, and John lowered himself onto one knee, and asked the man "What do you mean?"

"Find your own hiding place! The monsters are everywhere!" He yelled at them. He then began to form into a ball, and cower.

Sam put a hand on John's shoulder. "That's all we're gonna get out of him. He's too afraid to either move or answer questions."

John continued to stay on one knee. Sam tried another approach. "Look, we can't do anything for him, and there might be others out there. Let's keep moving."

John finally got up, but Sam knew that John was shaken, that someone could be reduced to this kind of state. Sam was shaken as well.

They just exited the room, and were about to enter another, when they heard an explosion, and screams.

Coming from the paranoid marine.

They all sprinted back, and were there in less than 10 seconds. But they were still too late.

The man was dead, and a lot of blood was on the floor.

"What did this?" John asked "To kill a marine this fast, and disappearing without a trace, they have to have stealth systems, or other ways of camouflaging themselves."

Linda looked around, as her helmet had more sensors than either Sam's or John.

"Nothing on Thermal or Sonar."

"You have _Sonar_?" John asked.

"Self-made attachment." She said, pointing to one of the attachments, on the right side on her helmet. "Thought it might come in handy against elites."

"But it doesn't help us locate the attackers."

They all nodded, and continued on.

After a while, they came across a door near two ramps. It was the third sign any forces had made it inside the facility.

A UNSC made spoofer.

"At last" Sam said, and moved to the door.

A slithering noise sounded behind them,and they all turned around, with all of them either a shotgun or assault rifle raised.

Nothing appeared for a few moments, but since John and Linda had turned around as well, Sam knew it wasn't nothing.

"Linda, door. Sam, cover our rear. I'll cover the room beyond." John ordered.

They all flashed their acknowledgement lights green.

Linda turned to the spoofer. She hit a button to unlock the door, and it opened.

And a marine fell into her arms.

Linda caught him, and looked at his eyes. He was clearly dead.

John moved into the room first, covering them. Linda moved in next, still carrying the marine, and at last, Sam moved in, still covering the ramps for anything that might follow. As soon as he was through, the door closed, and Sam at last turned around.

Linda was laying down the marine, and held out his chest-piece to Sam.

It read 'Mendoza'.

"Johnson would personally Keyes, correct?" Linda asked.

"Thought so, yes. Why?"

Linda looked down, and somehow Sam knew the answer a moment before she said it. "Mendoza was a member of Johnson's squad. I recognize him from the Autumn."

Sam nodded, and turned to John.

And stood in shock.

The floor was littered with human blood, assault rifles, and spent shell-casings. There were helmets laying around as well.

John was examining one, and Sam moved to another. It read 'Jenkins' on the back.

Sam turned it over, and his mood slightly lifted.

"This one's recorder is still intact." He called out to the others, and they approached him. "Care to watch with me?"

They all nodded, and he inserted it's memory chip into his helmet, and patched the others into his feed as well.

Sam selected a patch of the data, and it immediately started with something horrible. Something Sam disliked quite a lot.

Flip music.

And the others were voicing their concerns about the music as well.

Sam fast-forwarded it, to the point where it finally became interesting.

The group had found an elite. And Six was alive until at least that point.

"-Which is weird, right?" Sam heard one of the marines say. "I mean, look at it. Something... tore it open, and scrambled the insides."

Sam saw Six out of view, and Johnson started speaking. "What's that? Plasma scoring?"

Sam saw there was smoke coming from the elite.

"Yeah... I don't know. Maybe there was an accident. You know, friendly fire, or something."

Then Keyes moved into view. "What do we have, Sergeant?"

"Looks like a covenant elite. "Bad-ass Zealot class. KIA, as you can see."

"Real pretty." Keyes turned to the marine that spoke earlier. "Friend of yours?"

"Nah, we just met."

Sam decided to fast-forward it again, to the near-end of the recording.

It showed them in a corridor, the same one Blue-team just through barely minutes ago.

"Right" Keyes said. "well, let's get this door open, then."

"I'll try, Sir. But it looks like these Covenant worked pretty hard to lock it down."

"Just do it, Son."

"Yes sir."

Sam saw the soldier mount a spoofer onto the door, and after a few seconds the door opened.

Mendoza entered the room first, followed by Jenkins. They went to the same area where most of the blood will later be, Sam noted to himself. They were all looking around, seemingly hearing something the recorder didn't pick up.

"I've got a bad feeling about this." Mendoza said. Johnson immediately responded.

"Boy, you've always got a bad feeling about somethi-"

He was interrupted by someone on the radio. "Captain, Sarge. Do you read me?"

Johnson responded, as it was on his com. Everyone that was in view was listening in, except for Six, who seemed to be looking around. She seemed more distracted by what the recorder couldn't pick up yet.

"We've got contacts, LOTS of them. But they're not Covenant. They're just tearing through us. What the- Oh NOOOooo...!"

Johnson tried to raise the soldier again, but Sam knew he wouldn't get an answer. Johnson turned to Mendoza. "Mendoza, get your ass up to Second Squad's position, and find out what the HELL is going on up there."

"But-" Mendoza started, but Johnson didn't let him finish. "I don't have time for your lip, soldier. I gave you an order"

"Sarge!" One of the soldiers said. "Listen!"

It was now audible on the recorder. A weird slithering sound, like something organic moving around.

"Where's that coming from, Mendoza?" Johnson asked.

"I don't-"

Then there sounded a pounding to Jenkins' left. The door exploded outwards. And something alien came out.

They were small, had odd tentacles, and looked vaguely squid-like.

And they numbered in the hundreds.

"OPEN FIRE!" Six yelled, and started firing at them with a shotgun. The others followed suit, with even the Captain grabbing his side-arm.

Only Jenkins didn't open fire, obviously out of fright.

Sam saw Six switch from a shotgun to two plasma rifles, and she started firing away at them. Johnson and Keyes began to stand back-to-back. They were doing a good job of killing the things, as they popped with even a single round from an assault rifle.

But they seemed to be coming from everywhere, by the dozens.

The last thing that was visible from the recording was that dozens of the things dropped from the roof onto Jenkins, the captain and Johnson.

 _And Six_.

After that, the screen went black.

"Well," John said "Fuck."

Sam agreed, and was about to pull out the memory chip, when the recording suddenly started again.

Showing Six. Shaken, but alive. John and Linda were looking again as well, now.

"If any UNSC forces find this, this is Spartan B312, otherwise known as Six." She began. "I was assigned with captain Keyes to investigate and raid a possible weapons cache." Six sounded... shocked, horrified. Sad, even. Like she just lost a lot of her hope. "Instead, we encountered small, unidentified lifeforms, and they turned nearly all of us into... I don't know what, but something horrible."

Six sighed, then seemed to move the camera. It started to show Johnson, going over a corpse. It looked mangled, discolored, and heavily mutated. It was shot apart around the Chest, with very little left above the waist.

Sam realized to his horror that the corpse wore Captain Keyes' clothes.

"Johnson and I were the only survivors." Six sounded even more pained at that. "If you encounter the creatures, the small ones die quite easily, with only a single round from an assault rifle. The large ones die with a single blast from a shotgun."

Sam nodded at that. So prepared for combat that she even briefed others about new targets.

"If you find this, I hope you'll learn from this. We're attempting to reach the surface, but I don't know if we'll make it."

Six paused. To Sam she really sounded like she had just lost all hope, no longer believing she'd survive the Ring. Hell, she sounded like she believed she'd die in the next hour or so.

"If any members of Blue-team find this, It's been an honor, and I hope I'll see you in hell."

With that, the recorder went black again. And this time it stayed black.

Sam removed the chip, tossed it aside, and turned to the others.

Linda stood like she was about to move to give him whatever support Sam needed. And John... didn't even wait for that. He immediately moved to Sam, and put a hand on his shoulder.

"She's alive." He said. He sounded like he didn't believe it though. "She survived Reach, the insurrection, The _Truth and Reconciliation_ , She'll survive this. She gave us information about this new threat. She'll know how to fight her way out."

Sam turned to him. "You heard how she sounded. Whatever these things did, it horrified her. She lost her hope because of it."

"doesn't mean she didn't find a way out."

Sam shook his head. "You saw the lift controls. They were damaged by a frag grenade. You think these things are smart enough to throw grenades?"

"I-" John started, but Linda interrupted them. "Trouble: Door's locked." They both turned, and sure enough, Linda was standing very close to the door, and yet it still didn't open.

They were trapped.

Sam looked around. Only one door was blown open, and those things had emerged from it.

All the others were intact. And a loud banging came from one of them.

"Shoot them on sight. Follow Six's advice, and we might make it."

Sam didn't reply, and neither did Linda. All had their close-range weapons out, aiming at the door the sound emerged from.

After a minute the door started to budge, and then it burst open.

The same little things came out. Again, by the hundreds. Sam first, a short three-round burst, and observed a pleasant surprise.

He had hit only three. But dozens blew apart.

 _The bastards are so fragile they can't even survive the fragments of their own dead._

"Conserve ammo." He said. "The things are so fragile the fragments of their own dead burst them apart. Save the Shotguns for when the large ones appear."

"Handy." Linda said. "Especially since I only have a shotgun and a Sniper rifle."

And so it went on. John and Sam fired in bursts at the things, and they nearly always went down before they could reach them. And when they did get close, Linda hit them with the butt of her weapon.

And then their escape route blew open. And the first large one came through. And Sam started to understand why Sam was so horrified.

It was a turned elite. It's head had been shoved aside, hanging there like a dead limb that should be amputated. At the place where the head used to be, red appendages emerged from the chest, just a little longer than his finger. It's left arm had been heavily mutated, to the point where the arm split off into three tentacles.

Suddenly, Sam recalled what had been written in elite blood below a shotgun.

 _hit it at the red appendages on the chest._

Sam decided to test that theory, and shot at the chest, aiming for the red appendages.

It went down after a five round burst. Faster than he originally expected, remembering the recording showing Keyes' mangled corpse.

But it got up again.

This time Linda shot it, and it went down into multiple pieces, with the arms going into a different direction than the legs.

Sam nodded, then turned to the door they came through, which had burst open. Another of the things came through, but John was already there to blast it apart, having grabbed his shotgun in the momentary pause in the fighting. After waiting for half a minute, and nothing came out, they decided to go through.

They walked up the ramps, and it seemed quiet.

The that odd slithering sound came again.

He halted, and listened carefully again. He heard some feet shuffling, and after a moment he heard that slithering sound again. He turned to Linda. "Anything on Sonar?"

Linda paused, looked around herself once, then turned to him. "Four big ones, about thirty little ones."

She paused, then grabbed a grenade. "Close enough to each other for a big bang."

Sam nodded, then grabbed his rocket-launcher from his back, which he kept with him since his encounters at the control room. "You think too small."

"How violent."

"I know. Blame Mendez."

they both laughed into their comms. Sam shouldered the launcher, then looked at Linda. "Care to provide them with an incentive to look?"

"Such a gentlemen, letting a lady do the work for you."

"You ain't a lady. You're too violent for that."

"I know. Blame Mendez."

Sam rolled his eyes. Linda knocked real loud on the metal.

Sure enough, the things came running at them.

Straight into a rocket fired by Sam.

They flew all across the room, landing in the corners, all mangled up. Those that didn't end up fragmenting anyway.

John looked on, his head tilted. "Sometimes I really wish I knew where Halsey was. I want her to include your taste for explosives into the requirements for the program."

"Awww, thank you."

"Then again, most wouldn't survive the training program due to accidents with the... Chemistry lessons."

"True."

They moved on, back the way they came. They made it to the elevator, sneaking around most of them. Sam looked up, as the elevator was there.

It had been damaged somehow, as there were flames visible above.

He turned to Linda, who tried to touch the damaged controls. "Wait-" said over the com.

But it was too late. Linda's finger touched the buttons, and a large explosion sounded up above. Parts of the elevator came crashing down, some of which would have hit Linda had he not thrown her out of the way.

"Thanks" She said as she got up.

"You're welcome." He then realized something as he turned around.

In the previous room, they had sneaked around a lot of the things, and they were sure to have heard the explosion and the crash.

Sam saw them running out of one of the entrances of the room towards them. He shot at them, but they just seemed to keep coming.

He even saw some of them get up after being riddled with bullets.

"Up here!" John called, and Sam looked.

John had climbed on top of the weapons cache blocking the other entrance, and was shooting the seeming flood of aliens from a vantage point.

Sam ran towards him, and started to jump on top of the crates, trying to meet John at the top. He turned to his right, expecting to see Linda trying to do the same.

She wasn't there.

Sam turned around, and started to blast away at the things, trying to spot Linda.

There. She was blasting away at the things as well, and making her way to the stack. She was limping though.

"Coming!" She called. "Just go up. I'll be right behind you."

"Not without you." Sam said, and was making his way to her, clearing the way for her.

Linda finally caught up, and together they climbed the stacks. John grabbed her, pulled her up the rest of the way.

Then they finally stopped coming, and Sam fired a rocket down at the survivors.

He turned to Linda. "You alright."

"Just the wounds from Gamma station playing up. I've still not yet entirely recovered from it."

"What can't you do?" John asked.

"Still fight and move, just at a bit slower pace."

John nodded, then turned to the entrance they came from. "Let's go back in. If anything, try to find a different way out. Maybe we're lucky, and we'll come across Six and Johnson. But we've got to keep moving, or we'll be overwhelmed."

Sam nodded, and they moved back, deeper into the Facility.

They had moved through the facility, and Sam was starting to loose his hope for survival when he heard something he didn't expect to hear ever again.

Gunfire, and cursing over a Com-channel.

Sam moved into the direction it was coming from, and they came to a locked door.

The wall around was made from a see-through metal, though, and Sam looked at the other side.

Johnson was running in his direction across a really long light-bridge, and Six was following him.

And they were pursued on their heels by three elites, and the things a bit further back, just coming through the door opposite. And they kept coming, like an infinite flood of alien lifeforms.

Sam gestured for the others to stand back, and shouldered his rocket launcher, with just two rockets left in the thing.

He fired at the door, and after the explosion there was a large gap in it, large enough to see through.

But it still stood.

"Damn!" Sam called. John looked at him, his head tilted again.

"Really? You've ripped hunters apart, and you let a door stop you?"

"How do you suggest we get through, then? Huh?" Linda asked.

Sam looked at the door. And got an idea.

He stepped towards the door, gripped both ends.

And pulled them apart with all his strength.

They slightly parted, and Sam was sure Linda could fit her arm through.

But it still wouldn't budge enough for them to fit through, and his arms were tiring. Sam let go.

But something on the other side grabbed hold.

An elite hand got hold of the door, and started to pull it further apart.

And after five seconds Johnson jumped through.

He got up, looked at them, and whistled. "Boy, are we glad to see you."

The elite pulled even further, and after a few seconds Six stepped through, drenched in the things' entrails. Six immediately turned towards the door, and surprisingly shouted "I've got the door covered. Come through now!"

After three seconds one of the elites came through, and Sam was quite surprised it wasn't dead yet.

It was a Field-Marshal. The same one that had held up the knife of Six' former teammate. It held an energy sword in one hand, a plasma rifle in the other. It was also covered in the entrails.

A zealot came through next, this one wielding two plasma rifles. It became more on edge as it saw the Spartans, but it didn't open fire. Sam saw another Zealot starting to step through, holding a plasma rifle.

Then it got pulled back, likely by one of the things they saw. The Zealot grabbed hold of the side of the door, desperately trying to hold on.

The other Zealot started to grab his arm, trying to pull him back in. But it started to go back into the other room as well, the force of One-rifle being pulled back strong enough to take Two-rifle with him.

The Field-Marshal stepped forward, seemingly to help. But Sam was even more shocked at what it actually did.

It cut off the arms of One-rifle clean of with it's sword.

Two-rifle fell back into their room, and stared at the Field-Marshal in shock and growing rage. And One-rifle...

Sam saw the things were on him like starving lions, tearing him to shreds with their tentacles. Six walked towards the door, and hit one of the lights Sam and the others previously ignored.

A shield activated between them, separating them from the alien things on the other side. And leaving One-rifle with no chance of survival.

Six turned to the others, and looked at them, with a neutral body stance. "You found the recording?"

"Yes" John said. "Condolences about Keyes by the way."

Six nodded, and then looked at Linda, who had her head tilted. "What?"

Linda nodded her head at the Field-Marshal. Six looked in it's direction, recognized what she meant, and answered. "He rescued us, promising intel about those things in exchange for an escort out of here. He's held up to that promise so far."

At that point the horned Field-Marshal took over. "Those things are called the Flood. They're an alien parasite that threatened the Forerunners hundreds of thousands of years ago. They created these rings for the purpose of containing them."

"The Flood" Johnson said "can infect our bodies, turning them into odd monsters for them to control, and gather the dead to form some sort of organic _hive-mind_."

"Gravemind" The Field-Marshal corrected. "Serves to command and supply tactics. And they learn from all they infect."

Sam saw Linda cringe at that. He moved to the Field-Marshal. "And how do you know all this?"

"Because my Clan has one of the biggest archives in the entire Covenant. And through logical thinking."

"Hate to break up the tea-party" John said. "But those things are starting to move away. We need to find a way out of this place. Link up with any forces still alive on the ring."

"No" Six said, and the Spartans all turned towards her. Sam saw Six' was just standing there, not really doing anything. "If we leave, then we can lead those things straight to an exit out of this place. Let them loose on this ring, and give them more things to infect."

"Hate to break it to you," Linda said, stepping towards Six, holding her shotgun. "But I already saw a few of the things up on the surface, in the Swamps. You've slowed them down by damaging the elevator controls, but they still got out. And it _was_ you who did that." Linda jabbed with her finger at Six' chest. "Wasn't it?"

Six looked away. "How many did you see?" Six asked, ignoring Linda's question.

Linda didn't give up, however. "Why damage the controls? Are you that low on hope for survival?"

"Have been since Reach."

"Why do I refuse to believe that?"

"Denial. Made stronger by the fact you haven't seen the things turn your team-mates turn in front of your eyes."

Linda was silent after that. The Field-Marshal stepped forward. "I know a second elevator, somewhere in this place. It was a back-door, used to be guarded by elites. If they have made it outside, it came through there."

John nodded, then looked at the Zealot, who was still staring at the shield, where the things were still standing there. "What's up with him?"

"Combination at rage for my 'rational thinking', and rage for the fact we'll be fighting alongside the 'demons' he advocated should be hunted down." The Field-Marshal answered.

Sam moved to him, and looked him in the eyes. "What's your name, split-lip?"

"None of your business, 'Nishum."

"Alright, but know this. If you look at me the wrong way, I'll shoot you. If you kill me" He turned and gestured to Johnson, who was looking at them. "HE'll shoot you."

The zealot looked at Johnson, then at Sam. "Both of you won't get the chance. But I'll behave, 'Nishum."

"Alright, then."

They all got up, and went moving. They got out of the room, and the Field-Marshal led the way. After a few minutes they came to an intersection. Johnson looked at the horned Field-Marshal. "Which way, Fol-of-himself?"

"Fol-of-himself?" Sam asked.

"Ugly introduced himself" Johnson explained. "when we made a small last-stand a little bit near the first elevator. Name's Fol Katana, or something."

"Katarn'ee, and we go right. It leads to a small corridor that leads to the elevator. It's how we came in."

They nodded, and moved on the direction indicated. They came to a door, and it opened up.

Revealing a corridor filled with Flood forms, all the way from the door to the elevator.

Fol fired a few shots with his Plasma rifle, shooting at the nearest elite form. Six charged ahead, holding her shotgun one-handed, and grabbed an energy sword with the other. She hit the form around the chest. She slashed at it with her sword, then pulled it out. She holstered her shotgun, deciding it was too large for the corridor. She grabbed another energy sword, and started slashing away at the things.

Sam and the others stood back, firing when they got too close to them. But Six was definitely taking the blunt of the attack onto herself. She slashed at one of the human forms, kicked at one of the elite forms. But they still kept coming at them. And in the end, it became too much, as Six went too far ahead into the corridor for the others to cover her.

An elite form hit her on the head with one of it's tentacles. It knocked her down, and the little things started to swarm over her. Sam shot at the things, but for everyone he shot three more appeared. He tried to run towards her, but there were too many things for him to get there in time. He was about to scream at the things to die...

Then something jumped over him, and started slashing away at the things with something incredibly light. It started at the form behind the one Sam was fighting, and it split in two. Then it hit the Form next to it, and it went down. Then it ran straight into two forms, and they were speared into the wall, and dropped as the light cut through them.

All in a span of five seconds. At most.

 _Damn, the things dropped like flies before that thing._

Sam tried to make sense of what he saw, but it moved too quick. Then it finally stopped to block a blow from one of the tentacles. And Sam was shocked at what he saw that moved so fast.

It was Fol Katarn'ee, wielding two energy swords. And he was calm. Not enraged, not in a frenzy, not berserking. Just calm, in control.

And he was dealing with the Flood like he was slaughtering flies.

He finally made it to Six, who was trying to make some room around herself, piercing two of the forms with her swords. Sam and the others advanced, giving them covering fire.

Sam saw Fol kneel, and then do something that he would never get used to.

Fol holstered one of his swords, and held out his free hand to Six, so she could get up.

And Six took it.

She got up, then looked at Fol. "Why help me like that? You could have just let me die. The others couldn't reach me."

Fol looked at Six, then answered "Because unlike you, I have no hostile feelings towards my enemies. I hold no grudge against you."

Sam and the others looked at the conversation as the corridor was cleared, with Johnson shooting them again, to ensure they stay down.

Six looked at the Field-Marshal, and Sam thought she was gonna gut the Field-Marshal on the spot. But she just stood there, and after a moment, moved on, out of the corridor.

Fol looked at Six for a second, and then followed. The others did so as well. They got on the elevator, and it went up.

And they were greeted by marines and ODST's. Normal humans, not some weird Flood monsters. There were five of them left, and they were all clustered around the exit.

One of the marines approached the Chief as he jumped up and off the elevator before the others.

"Sir, thank God you're here. We've been lost out here for hours. After we lost contact with the rest of the mission, we, we headed for the RV point, and then these...these _t_ _hings_...they ambu-" The soldier paused, looked behind the Chief, and his face turned to anger. John looked as well.

The marine was looking at the Field-Marshal. And the Field-Marshal was looking at him. He stepped forward, until he was five human steps from the marine. Then he started talking. "Chips Dubbo. I never thought I'd see you again."

"I _hoped_ I'd never see you again. Couldn't you have just died down there?"

"Would you rather have me turn into one of those things, Marine?"

"HELL NO!"

Johnson stepped between them, and looked at them. "Look, I don't know how you know each other, but Date-night's gotta wait. We've gotta get out of here."

At that Chips nodded, and Fol moved past. The other soldiers didn't look pleased with the two elites being alive, especially the ODST's, but since they were walking with Spartans, they didn't dare object to their presence.

But it didn't matter to Sam. They finally made it outside.

And were immediately called by Foehammer.

"This is _Echo 419_. Is that you, Spartans? I lost your signals when you disappeared inside the structure. What's going on down there? I'm tracking movement all over the place!"

"Long story, Foehammer." Sam answered. "But let's just say Keyes is missing, KIA. There are new hostiles in play. Not Covenant, I repeat _not_ Covenant. We need immediate pick-up..." He paused, looking at the elites. "And we have 2 elite VIP's that need to be relocated as well."

"Come again, Heavylifter. Did you say _Elite VIP's_?"

Sam nodded, surprised he was doing this as well. "Affirmative. We're not keeping them, but they saved our lives. The least we can do is give them a slight lift to their own."

"I don't agree, but I'm not gonna argue. There's a large tower a few hundred meters from your current position. Find a way above the fog and foliage canopy, and I can move in and pick you up."

"Roger Foehammer. Heavylifter out."

Sam keyed off, and moved forwards. He noticed Fol was looking at him. "Thank you, Spartan."

Sam nearly reeled back. An Elite thanking him? This he would remember.

 _If he ever got off the ring._

They all moved out, and sure enough, the things started to come out of the woodwork. They were coming down the canyon walls, in large groups even. Oh, how he wished he had a warthog here right now, so he could gun them down with the turret of the thing.

Six had her shotgun out now instead of her energy swords. She was blasting away at the things, staying near the ODST's to provide them with enough cover. He and Linda covered the marines, while John worked with Johnson, Fol and the other zealot were clearing the way for the others. Sam looked back, and saw they were starting to emerge from the entrance Blue-team and the others had come from as well.

 _Fucking hell, won't they ever quit?_

Sam blasted away at three of the things that got too close to the marines, three of them.

Sam saw the tower emerge from the fog, but there were also a lot of Flood things between them. Fol shot at them with two plasma rifles. They seemed to die slower from plasma fire than from projectile fire, Sam noted. Handy to know.

Sam finally got at the tower with his group, but then his clip ran out of rounds. He searched his belt for another clip.

There wasn't one.

Sam threw it at one of the things, like a spear, and decided to get up close and personal with them. He grabbed one, and ripped it's arms off. Since he'd ripped hunters apart before, and these things seemed to be standing on their last pair of feet, it was quite easy.

The thing kept standing, however, so Sam used it's arms as baseball bats against it, hitting it in the gut. It fell apart from the blow. He turned to the next form.

And saw a laser blast it apart in front of his eyes.

Sam turned to where the laser was coming from, and saw a weird, cylindrical flying drone hover there. There were similar drones emerging from the top of the tower, and they all started blasting apart the Flood.

They were joined by a spherical drone, with a central blue eye. It approached their group.

"Greetings. I am the monitor of Installation 04. I am 343 Guilty Spark." It said. It was in perfect english. He'd make a point of it to ask Cortana about it.

It was too bad he ran out too fast for them to take her with them. Cortana would be able to communicate with this thing. Communicate better, at least.

"Someone has unleashed the Flood. My job is to prevent it from leaving this installation. But I require your assistance." It said. By this time, a gathering had formed around it, consisting of Sam, Linda, John, Six, Johnson, The elites and the other survivors. The drones seem to have done an excellent job of taking care of the Flood.

"Come. This way." Then golden light surrounded all of them, and Sam suddenly felt like his gut was turned inside out, and he doubled over. Then he disappeared.

* * *

The first thing Six noticed as she emerged was that it turned her gut over. And she wanted to do it again.

She reappeared in a big structure, she knew that much. For above the wall a really large room was visible, and there seemed to be multiple balconies up above. She looked around a bit more.

The others had arrived as well, Blue-team, Johnson, the marine survivors from the second squad...

 _and the bloody accursed elites as well._

She may tolerate them, but they were far from allies. Even if Fol had saved her life.

She saw the ball had appeared as well. It hovered in it's place, seemingly there just doing nothing. It approached John. "We must collect the index before we can activate the installation." it said.

Six turned to it. "And let me guess: We need to grab it, take it to the control room, and put it in?"

The thing turned to her. "Why, yes. Why do you ask, Reclaimer?"

Before she could answer, Zuka interrupted "Reclaimer? But the Prophets are the chosen successors of the Foreru-"

"Quiet, you interrupt a lovely conversation between a human and a monitor. Let them speak." Fol interrupted.

Fol then gestured at the 'monitor', then at Six. "Continue."

Six gave him a rude gesture, and then answered the monitor's question. "We've been out of the loop for a long time, and need to catch up a bit. Care to fill in the details?"

The monitor seemed to nod. "Of course, Reclaimer." It started. "This installation was built to study and contain the Flood. There were countermeasures in place in case of another outbreak. They will wipe out the Flood anywhere in the galaxy. They can be activated from the control room, but they require the index to be activated." Six nodded. Something was off, though, like he was purposefully omitting something. She looked at the others.

Johnson spoke up. "Well, I don't know about you, but Lightbulb actually gives a good suggestion. Who's with me in following this bastard?"

All of the marines and ODST's, Sam and Linda raised their hands Fol did so as well after a few moments. John did as well, although hesitantly. He shared her unease at the floating lightbulb then.

Zuka didn't raise his hand, but went along anyway, though the marines always had their rifles vaguely aimed in his direction.

Six noticed Sam had nothing but a rocket-launcher. She unholstered one of her plasma rifles, making sure it was the one with the most of it's charge left, and gave it to him. "Just in case they get too close for rockets."

"Thanks."

They then saw the Flood had already arrived here, though, and they had something new.

It was bulbous, like a walking gas-bag. It had the same color as the other forms, although it was a lot slower.

Six held her fist up, indicating the others too halt. It didn't seem to have spotted her. Six experimentally shot it with one of her plasma rifles. It was a massive mistake.

It exploded, and released dozens of the little ones. Six shot at all of the things, and Sam joined her, moving to cover her flank with a .

It was like the water had been turned on. As the little things moved towards her, the Flood came from everywhere. The ventilation ducts, over the walls, even from small holes in the ceiling.

Six shot at all of the things, and one of the marines accidentally hit a gas-bag one, while she had been aiming for the elite form next to it.

The gas-bag exploded, and six of the combat forms went down with it, caught in the force of the explosion.

 _They're like walking grenades. Handy, as long as you're a hundred feet away._

Six turned to the other forms, and saw John and Linda following the monitor to a wall with a diagonal line. Zuka and the ODST's followed.

Then the gap widened, and and Six realized it was a door.

She turned to the remaining marines, and gestured for them to head for the door. They immediately got the picture, and headed for it. Six and Sam covered them, and the marines made it.

She gestured at Sam, then at the door, firing with her shotgun one-handed. "Go. I'll cover you."

"You go."

"No need for dumb bravado, Samuel. Just go. I'll be right there."

Sam waited for a moment, seemingly to wait for her, then nodded. He went to the door, which was slightly stuck. Six saw there was another pair of doors opposite, it's diagonal pair placed so it made a square hole. Too high for them to pass through.

But large enough for the Flood to jump through.

Six sprinted back to the group, and made it around the same time as Sam. The things had them cornered, and Six was starting to run low on Shotgun shells.

 _And where's the bloody lightbulb?_

Six was down to five shells when the things finally stopped coming. And the Light-bulb appeared.

"Please, follow closely." It said. "This portal is the first of ten."

 _More doors. Terrific._

Johnson began to speak to the light-bulb. "Question, Lightbulb. If you can teleport us from the middle of a swamp, why not take us immediately to the index?"

"There is some interference emerging from the index. It's a natural defense, in case I'm ever captured by the Flood. If I was, the Flood would gain access to the teleportation network I used to get you here."

"So basically a small measure to slow burglars down."

"The Flood aren't burglars, Reclaimer."

"You understand the point, Lightbulb."

"Are you really gonna waste your time on terminology, Sergeant?" Fol asked. "Because if you do, the monitor will hold out longer than you will"

"The Sangheili is right, Reclaimer. I have waited here for 101.217 years without company, and I'd happily discuss the subject of terminology with you. The Flood fit the term Parasite the best, with infection following close behi..."

Six ignored the rest of the conversation. She turned back to the hallway they emerged into.

It seemingly had many ramps, and nearly all of them were dead ends.

Until the hallway itself turned into a dead end.

Six looked at the others, and saw John head down one of the ramps.

He called out. "There's a narrow corridor down here. It goes on beyond the wall."

Six went to the ramp, and waited until everyone else went down until she did as well, covering their rear.

It indeed was very narrow, to the point where she nearly had to duck because one of the beams supporting the ceiling nearly hit her head.

And of course now the Flood decided to attack them. From both ends of the corridor.

Six saw a large amount of combat forms emerge from the way they came, and she threw a grenade to slow them down. It only did that, though, and she called. "Samuel! Give me the rocket launcher!"

Instead of giving her the launcher, however, he fired it down the corridor barely an inch past her head.

It took them all down.

Six looked at Sam. _He nearly had hit her in the head with a rocket launcher._ "A little more to the left next time. You just might hit my head then."

"Sorry."

"Sorry doesn't let me keep my head."

"Ok, I'll aim more to the left. Anything to shut you up."

"Oh, I'll shut up, then. If you could just give it to me when I ask for the launcher instead of firing it an inch past my head."

"I didn't intend that, alright. Or would you rather stay down in the Flood lair next time we lose you down there."

"If you become my rescuer, then I'd rather stay down there, indeed."

* * *

John and Linda watched in amusement as Six and Sam argued full volume. It was really amusing to watch. Fol and the others had already taken care of the Flood, and yet here they were, watching the pair argue.

"Cute." John said to Linda.

"Like an asshole and a bitch on their first date" Linda replied, just as amused as he was. "And for the record, I _am_ recording this for posterity."

John nodded. It would be amusing to show them afterwards.

Johnson joined them in watching as well. "Oh, we've got a couple in the making here."

John nodded. "We've already started to guess when they come clean with it. I say after we leave this ring."

"And I say before." Linda said.

Johnson looked between them, and then started to grin. "Any of you got some money?"

Both John and Linda looked at him. "No."

Johnson nodded. "Shame. We could've started a betting pool about it."

Linda looked up. "If it was for that, I'm betting my sniper rifle that it will be before they leave the ring."

John looked at her, then said. "If it's going to be like that, I'm betting my supply of ammo for my shotgun that it'll be after."

Johnson nodded. "I also go with after. And I'll bet my golden-plaited pistol back home for that."

Linda nodded. "It's a deal, then."

They all nodded, and decided to continue watching them argue.

* * *

"Oh, Come on. You only ripped them apart like that just to show off to the others." Six said, highly irritated.

"Just like you tackled that elite on the Autumn just to show off to us." Sam responded in kind.

"Oh, don't stoop that low, for you went the same way on that balcony up there on the ship."

"You can't prove that. You and the others were busy with that spec-ops team down below."

"I've heard it from Johnson. He joined you, remember? Oh, wait. That's right. You are too busy blowing things up."

"At least I don't make fun of the dead."

"Like standing triumphantly above the corpses isn't mocking."

"It makes great propaganda material."

"Oh, and that excuses it."

"Like you wouldn't do the same thing."

"No, I wouldn't do that. I would check for ammo, maybe take a tooth or two, and move on. I wouldn't stand there like some stupid propaganda image."

"Oh," Sam said, in a mock-imitation of her voice. "I don't make fun of the dead. I merely take their teeth."

Now Six was furious. "Oh, you're lucky we're on the same side right now, or I'd have shot you and put your head on a pike."

"I believe you're violent enough for that, as uncivilized as you are."

"Like you are civilized, pulling your enemies apart, ripping their arms off like that, not caring how visceral it is."

Before Sam could reply, Fol moved towards them, and pulled them apart. "Enough. I have trouble seeing who you hate more: Me or each other. Quit it, and move on, or I'll take your weapons, knock you unconscious and leave you there for the Flood to find."

Six and Sam looked at him, and Six could kill at that moment if she didn't need them all as bodies to throw at the Flood if worse came to worst. But she needed them all, especially the high-skilled Elite. So she spared them. She moved away from both of them.

And saw John, Linda and Johnson staring at her. "Say a word about this, and I'll throw YOU at the Flood first."

"Oh, you've said _plenty_ of words about this." Johnson said.

 _Oh, fuck me. Now all three of them have seen this. Even the blasted hinge-head can probably recognize it._

She just raised a finger against him, and moved on out of the corridor.

It seemed clear, for now. And Lightbulb appeared again.

"Ahhhh... I am a genius. Heeheeheehee!"

"And I'm a cyborg."

They all made it out of the corridor. It was quiet for a few minutes. Namely because no one dared to talk out of fear of upsetting either Spartan. Only the monitor seemed oblivious to it, humming away.

After a few moments the weird drones appeared again.

"What are those things?" one of the marines asked.

"They are aggressor-class sentinels. They are present to combat the Flood. They are however, highly susceptible to plasma fire. And since the Flood can wield weapons now, They are becoming less and less effective."

"Flood wielding weapons?" one of the ODST's asked. "Shit."

"Yes. The Flood gain more and more intelligence from their victims. It means they will learn how to wield weapons as well, and, if infecting enough technical personnel, how to fly space-ships as well."

As soon as she heard that, Six was glad she had grabbed the captain's CNI when she had killed him. She moved into another room, and saw something... Gruesome to most.

A dead marine. All mangled up to the point where he couldn't even be used by the Flood anymore.

Six moved over to him, as the others seemingly walked past the room. She searched his body for his dog-tags.

 _There. Marvin Mobuto. Hell, If you made it even this far into this hellhole, we would have gotten along just fine. I'd have even introduced you to the Spartan-III program. You'd have fit in perfectly._

The monitor appeared behind her, looking over her shoulder. "Ah, the other Reclaimer. His combat skin was even lower than yours. His death made me realize That I needed a group of you to get you at the index, as well as that I needed Reclaimers with more Combat skills."

Six nodded, took the dog-tag, and after a moment's hesitation, decided to add it to her special collection, which contained those of her former team-mates and her collection of teeth. She and the monitor caught up with the others, who had stepped onto an elevator. Just as soon as she did, though, the Flood emerged again. In a large amount.

They came in the dozens. And sure enough, they appeared to be armed. For a rocket came straight for them.

Six dodged it, and Johnson called ahead. "I think Sam actually aimed for you this time, Six."

"Johnson, Be careful. There might be an accident of friendly fire."

Johnson shut up, for the Flood were getting very close now. And they were coming in incredibly large amounts. They all rushed forward, even those that had ranged weapons.

Six shot at two of them, killing a human form and an elite form. But they were getting too close for that now, so Six threw her Shotgun to the ground, and grabbed her energy swords. She slashed at one of them, kicked another in the gut before stabbing him in the chest. She threw a plasma grenade at a gas-bag form, then jumped away as the grenade exploded, taking the gas-bag and at least a dozen forms with him. Satisfied that the immediate space around her was cleared, she turned around.

And was shocked. Sam and Johnson were fighting an elite-form that had a marine and an ODST pinned. Fol was cutting his way through the Flood towards Linda and John, who were surrounded back-to-back. And the others... were nowhere to be seen.

Six looked again, and found Zuka. And she wished she didn't.

He was turning, and making his way to Fol.

Six sprinted forward, tackled him to the ground, and attempted stab him in the head and the chest.

Fol heard the commotion, turned around, and saw the struggle.

He grabbed Six and threw her off and away a few meters. Six immediately got back on her feet, expecting to have to lecture on how Zuka was gone.

And saw that Fol had Zuka up in the air, speared by Fol's energy swords through the chest, and Zuka was falling apart due to the tissue-damage he suffered.

Six looked, and nodded in respect to him. Fol nodded back, but then something came along they hadn't seen before.

It was Flood. It had the vague resemblance of a gas-bag, but had two long legs, a large body, and two tentacles. It wasn't clear what it had been before it became... this

And it was twice as tall as an elite. While slightly hunched.

 _Holy hell. This was likely what got Mobuto._

 _And it was coming straight for me._

* * *

Fol saw the large on come towards him and Six, and knew what he had to do.

He looked at Six, and saw she realized it as well. They both charged at the thing, energy swords out in front of them. The thing, however, crossed the distance twice as quickly as them, and swung with it's incredibly long tentacles. They hit them with the force of a speeding warthog, and Fol was flung aside as it hit his shoulder. He flew a few meters before landing, skidding another 2 before he grinding to a halt and jumped up. He looked at where Six was.

And spotted her on top of the thing, as she had hold on to her tentacle. As they both originally intended, and where he failed. She threw plasma grenades at it and jumped off.

The thing, which Fol decided to call a juggernaut, swung it's tentacle at Six, and she flew straight across the elevator. It turned to Fol.

And the Plasma grenades exploded.

It staggered, and Fol saw a lot of Flood-tissue had come off from the blast.

But it still stood. And was making his way towards him.

Fol weighed his options He could walk across the elevator, cross the distance, and try to repeat the same trick again. Or he could fall back, look at someone with more firepower, and try to attack it with them.

He decided to go for the more risky move, sprinted towards the thing, and jumped on top of it's tentacle. He slashed away at the thing with his energy swords as he climbed on top of the thing. It tried to dislodge him by swinging it's tentacles slightly above it's body.

And then a rocket hit the elevator right between it's legs, and it toppled like a felled tree. Fol jumped off, and took some distance.

Fol looked around, and saw one of the spartans standing there with a smoking rocket launcher. All the other Flood forms had been eliminated.

But the Juggernaut was persistent, and it got up again.

But this time everyone remaining opened fire on it as well. And after half a minute of being in a total crossfire, it went down. And stayed down.

Fol nodded at the spartan in thanks, and looked at who was left.

And wasn't happy about it.

Only the Spartans, the marine he came with and two others were left standing, the others either killed by the Flood's weapons fire or infected and shot by the spartans.

Six got up, and nodded her thanks towards Fol.

"As much as I hate to admit it, It was a good plan, charging that thing."

"You actually succeeded. I'm impressed."

Then the elevator got up. And Fol prepared for what was to come.

* * *

 **There, one of my chapters completed. for those that have either read a lot of halopedia articles or have been modding the halo games, The Flood Juggernaut is the one I am featuring here. For those that don't, the Flood Juggernaut is actually in canon with Halo storyline. (It is seen in archive footage of the flood in Halo Motion capture comic _The Mona Lisa_ )**

 **With Kind regards**

 **Gharst Omenlumin**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: (Climbs up from a pit filled with project papers and school assignments, holding out another chapter): Yes! I'm back! in all seriousness, thank you all for staying with me so far. I'm nearly done with the massive assignment (one more week, until februari 5, in which I can't work on the story). I will be honest: It looked pretty much like this (until second pulse generator part and onward) for a week, and I haven't had the time to complete the chapter.**

 **Disclaimer: Still no success on owning 343 industries, so Halo still belongs to them.**

* * *

Chapter 7

"Are we there yet?" Richard Wilson asked as the elevator arrived at the top. "No." Johnson immediately responded.

He had been part of the second squad that was assigned to guard the weapons cache, and had, along with Chips Dubbo, been attacked by the Flood, as they seemed to be called by the 'light-bulb', as Johnson called it. He had gone along with the Spartans, and had been... teleported with them into this odd place. He had managed to hold out so far. Some of the others weren't as lucky. Including one of the elites that had gone along with them.

He would have found it odd, and frightening, to be here, were it not for the fact that people had been acting way too seriously. To the point that two of the spartans had even had an argument in a service corridor.

And the tension was so thick that Wilson decided to lighten it up with a bit of humor.

"Are we there yet?" he asked again.

Johnson sighed, and the others looked at him. "No." Johnson said again, as they got off the elevator.

"Are we there yet?"

"No"

"Are we there yet?"

"No."

"Are we there yet?"

"Oh, for the love of... SHUT UP!"

Richard, or 'Richie, as his teammates used to call him, waited for a second, and then asked. "Are we there yet?"

Chips Dubbo, the only other marine still alive, responded this time. "Why don't you shut up? Or at least ask the lightbulb?"

Richie looked at Dubbo, and said "Because he can't pick up I'm not as serious about it as I claim to."

"Asshole."

"Admit it: You'll miss me when I'm gone."

"Only if someone bumps my elbow."

"Ouch. That hurt my feelings."

"Oh, please. You don't have feelings. Or a heart, for that matter."

At this point one of the spartans, the small one with the energy swords, finally intervened. She had also been one of those to argue. "If I ask our guide, will you shut up about it?"

Wilson just smiled, depolarizing his visor. "Only if I get a date along with it."

"I'll ask Lightbulb if he wants to date you."

"I meant you."

At this the Spartan was silent, then continued on. She didn't approach the lightbulb when he appeared. Wilson approached it, and asked "Are we there yet?"

"No, reclaimer. Not yet. Only a few more levels, though, so we're close."

"Thank you."

He turned to the others. "There. Was that so hard?" Johnson hit his forehead with his palm, and most of the others sighed. The elite turned to him. "Can you also shoot as much as you talk, Human?"

"Want to serve as target practice and find out?"

"No, thanks."

They continued on, and ran into more Flood, and after a few moments they appeared behind them as well. As usual, two of the other Spartans, the Chief and the one with the sniper rifle took point, along with Johnson, and the other two spartans covered the rear, and the rest were somewhere in the middle. Wilson raised his scavenged shotgun, and fired a few shots at a combat form, waiting a bit before actually shooting, so they actually got into range. As he saw the others do, he aimed for the red parts on the chest. They did go down quicker that way. They were starting to overwhelm them, though, as they had on the elevator.

And then the elite saved him, by taking a group of them down by kicking one of the walking bubbly-like ones into a group approaching him, taking the entire group out. The pressure on his end lowered a bit.

He looked around, and saw a small crawling squid-like one sneaking up on Dubbo. He shot it down, though it was overkill with his shotgun. Dubbo turned to him, and nodded in thanks.

Wilson looked around, looking for a new 'friend' to play with, as he put it. He saw the Spartans up front were starting to overwhelmed again. He shot one of the things encircling them, killing it, and drawing the attention of some of the others. They ran at him, and he shot at them again and again. They kept coming, but he didn't care.

He just kept shooting, as he'd done for most of the day. Or night. He couldn't tell which one it was now.

Then the Shotgun ran out of ammo. And there were still a few of the things left. _Oh, for FUCK's sake._

He threw his shotgun at one of them, drew his combat knife, and prepared to use it. One got close enough, and he stabbed at it's chest, right into the red part. He stabbed the thing there multiple times, and it fell down. He pulled the knife out...

And one of the things jumped on top of him, and he fell on his back.

It tried to slash at his throat with it's tentacles. It seemed to be a former human. He held his arm in front of it's tentacles, and only his arm was hit. He stabbed at the red part with his other arm, which held his knife. It died, and fell on top of his body.

And he was stuck. _Damn, the thing's heavy. Couldn't they have been made of gas or something?_

He grunted, trying to move the thing. It didn't go off of him, so he stopped trying. He looked around.

His shotgun lay there, half a meter away.

And between it and him one of the small things that had turned the others. He held his free arm out in front of him, ready to smash it to pieces. It ran towards him, jumped with it's tiny little appendages, and went straight his way.

And he hit it with his fist, on which he always had brass-knuckles. It died, and popped like... popcorn. _Ha-ha. A new pun._

He tried to reach out for his shotgun, stretching his fingers. _Come on, Come on..._

His finger hooked around the barrel. _Gotcha_.

He carefully pulled it towards himself, and grabbed a better hold of it. He carefully grabbed a few shells, and started reloading. He grabbed it with one hand, and looked around.

The others seemed to have taken care of the Flood, and as far as he could see the others had all seemingly survived the encounter.

He called out. "Hey, a hand please?" Johnson approached, and held out his hand. _Just_ out of reach. "Am I there yet?" He asked, with a large grin on his face. Richie rolled his eyes, adjusted the shotgun so it aimed at the corpse on top of him, and pulled the trigger. The corpse fell to pieces, ripped apart by the blast. He got up, and grabbed his knife from the corpse, and sheathed it.

He looked at his arm. His armor had taken on most of the blow. Only one cut had come through his jumpsuit. It was a nasty cut, but nothing he couldn't handle. Dubbo didn't agree, though.

"That's nasty. You need to get a look at that."

"It looks worse than it is."

The small Spartan came towards him again. "That's not good. You need to get that looked at."

"You sound like Chips here." Chips started to glare at him at that.

"I'm a medical expert, so I know. You need to get that looked at, and it can't happen here." she turned to Lightbulb. "Monitor, can you teleport him and Dubbo out of here, towards the largest concentration of Reclaimers? They need medical attention."

"Certainly, Reclaimer."

A yellow flash appeared around him, and after a few moments his gut went upside down again. He looked around, and he saw he was in a forerunner structure, with Dubbo.

And there was a scorpion tank visible from across the room.

And Silva was looking at them, like they appeared out of nowhere.

 _Great. The All-powerful Silva, who can beat Spartans, if you believe his speeches and boasts. This will be fun._

* * *

Fol looked at them, and they disappeared in a yellow flash. He looked at who was left.

 _Just him, The four Spartans, and the dark-skinned Sergeant that kept calling people names. Optimistic, considering what they started out with._

He looked at the monitor, who most called Light-bulb. "Monitor. Why do you call the Humans Reclaimers? What do they have that other species don't?"

The Monitor turned to him. "They were the chosen successors of the Precursors. They were supposed to take the Mantle of Responsibility, And would have done so had the Forerunners not wiped them out millions of years ago."

"But-"

"All very interesting, Monitor," one of the Spartans said. The one the other soldiers called the 'Master Chief'. "but shouldn't we get going?"

"I agree" The one called Six said.

Fol decided to call them, in his mind at least, by their visors. Six would be called Cut, for the cut he had made across her Visor on Reach. The other female would be called Goggles, for she seemed to have multiple goggles on her helmet of one clear visor. He knew they were camera's and sensors, but they just seemed too much like goggles in his mind. The really tall Spartan he had heard was called Sam would be T, for his Visor was shaped like a human T, although it was quite wide. The Chief would be called blank, as he had no identifying marks on his Visor.

They all went on. It went much the same from there on: Blank and Goggles would clear the front, Cut and T would keep the rear secure, even if they kept their distance from each other a bit, and he and the Sergeant would provide support where needed. The Sergeant seemed to be quite skilled at keeping them at bay, to the point where the little ones didn't even get close to him.

Fol reactivated his energy swords as the Flood appeared again. But this time the party of humans and an elite weren't alone. A flight of the drones appeared again, and began thinning out the Flood.

Fol saw they were killing them quite fast, but they were overwhelmed by sheer numbers. Fol grabbed his swords a little tighter, activating them. He saw the others prepare as well, either reloading or already taking aim at the Flood. Then he saw something he didn't want to face again.

A Juggernaut. Followed by a twin. They were starting to fight the Sentinels, and clearly were winning due to the reach of their tentacles Fol looked at T, who already was grabbing his rocket launcher. The others were all either taking better cover or grabbing grenades, seeing the result of them on the things.

Fol counted how many of the flood there were, and saw, beside the Juggernauts, a horde of the little ones, about thirty of the turned, and twelve exploding ones.

And most of the latter were clustered around the Juggernauts at the moment.

Perfect.

Fol holstered his energy swords, turned to T, and held his hand out for the rocket-launcher. After a moment's hesitation, T gave it. Fol aimed it at the ground around the exploding ones, and fired a single rocket.

It hit in the center of the group, and did the job he hoped it would. The things all exploded from the force of impact, and the Juggernauts all staggered from the impact of so many explosions. One fell down, and although it's tentacles still moved, it kept lying on the ground. _Likely kept there due to it's weight._

The other came out of it with less damage, only a few patches of meat hanging loose. Fol then looked at the turned, and was surprised.

Only five were still standing, all of them on fire. The fire was colored blue. Fol looked closer at them, as none of the Flood seemed to approach him.

And then he saw.

His rocket had severely damaged a few of the sentinels, and they had all crashed into the turned forms. Most had died from the ensuing explosions of the crashing drones, and the rest had been set on fire.

And fire seemed to be wrecking havoc on the things.

Fol handed T back the launcher, reactivated his swords, and kept ready for when the Juggernaut started to engage them. He didn't have to wait long.

It looked around, saw them, and jumped towards them, at a speed and height that belied it's size.

Fol jumped out of the way, throwing a plasma grenade at it as he did so. It stuck to the large thing, and the thing didn't seem to notice it. There was a slight problem, though.

It had stuck to the end of the right tentacle, and it was swinging around at them with incredible speed and flexibility.

Fol thought fast, and tried to jump on top of it again, like he and Cut had tried with the first one. But it was onto him, and hit him in the side, swinging him against the wall. It tried to stab him with the end of the tentacle.

And then the grenade exploded, a meter away from him. The thing staggered, and the tentacle Was heavily burned as a result. Fol didn't come unscathed out of the encounter either, as his shields had been drained to about a tenth of their full strength. But the thing in front of him was burned, weakened, and seemed to lose it's balance.

So Fol did what seemed the most logical to him, grabbed his still active swords, and jumped straight into it. It would normally have done little to no damage, but the thing was already weakened and unbalanced from the explosion, and Fol stabbed the thing in the rough area of the stomach as he dived.

It fell down, and was twitching a bit before finally laying still. Fol removed his swords from the corpse, briefly shut them down and reactivating them to remove any tissue still on the blades, and looked at what the others were doing.

T and Cut were firing at the other Juggernaut, out of it's reach, in an attempt to permanently kill it. The Sergeant was firing at the little infection forms, alongside with Blank, in an attempt to keep them from resurrecting the turned, and Goggles was firing at the that were still standing. Fol decided to join her, and grabbed his assault rifles.

He could only fire two rounds, though, before they shut down. They were out of charge, as he had been using them ever since he had grabbed them from the phantom that dropped him off at the Weapons cache. It was a miracle they had lasted as long as they did.

Fol looked around for another ranged weapon. He didn't spot any covenant weapons, however. Only the human projectile weapons seemed to be laying around. He grabbed one with discomfort, an assault rifle. It wasn't that he had anything against the weapons, but they weren't designed with his anatomy in mind, and he had slight trouble fitting his finger in the trigger guard.

It didn't mean that he didn't know how to use them, however, and he released the low-ammo clip from the weapon. Fol grabbed a fresh one from the corpse, and saw the ammo counter jump up to sixty. Good.

He grabbed all the ammo he could find on the nearby corpses, and joined Goggles in taking down those that still stood tall among the Flood numbers. It took less than five seconds to take them all down.

He heard an explosion, and he turned in it's direction. T had unloaded a rocket into the form of the crippled Juggernaut, and it had blasted most of the thing apart. It wouldn't trouble him, so he looked around for any other potential threats.

There weren't any. The Sergeant and Blank had taken down the little forms, and there weren't any other forms in sight.

They all gathered at another door at the end of the hallway, but the monitor then appeared, ending up hovering in the middle of the group.

"Good news, reclaimers. I've managed to override some of the elevator controls, and The central platform is coming down to this platform."

The Sergeant looked dubious. "And why is that important, Lightbulb? In case you haven't noticed, we just got off of an elevator."

The monitor turned to the Sergeant. "Because the Central platform is the one containing which the index hovers over, and The index lowers with it."

"So in short words, you've just made our journey a lot shorter." Cut said.

"Yes, reclaimer. It means you will soon leave this facility, of which the lowest levels are already overrun with Flood."

Fol was glad with that. They had been fighting nearly non-stop ever since they had been at this place. Come to that, they had done so ever since their arrival at the weapons cache, pausing only when they encountered friendlies like the marines at the latter facility's exit, or the argument between Cut and T. It would be nice to have a break for once.

Indeed, as the door opened, Fol could see a central platform lowering. In it's center an object was floating, and it went down at the same rate as the platform.

Between them and the platform, however, more flood stood. About fifty of them of various types. He turned to the others. "One last Fight with these things, and it'll be over for them."

They all nodded, and turned to engage their foe. Fol aimed his assault rifle, and fired at the Exploding forms first, which numbered to about six. They went up with bangs, lowering the count of enemies to about twenty or thirty. He didn't stop to count how many had been taken down, instead just continuing to fire at the things.

One came too close, and was about to swipe it's tentacle at him when the Sergeant jumped in front, blasted the thing, and it reeled back from the force of the blast. Fol fired at it's chest, and it went down for good.

Fol couldn't pause yet to thank the sergeant, though, as one was creeping up on his flank, attempting to blindside the sergeant. Fol blasted it, grabbed it's corpse as it attempted to get up again, and threw it over the Sergeant's head at a cluster of forms that he was firing at.

The Sergeant looked back in surprise, then grinned. "Guess that makes us even."

Fol aimed over the Sergeant, and fired at one of the forms attempting to take potshots at them. It went down.

"By my count, I'm one up on you, Sergeant." The Sergeant looked at him in surprise, and started to grin even more.

"Is that a challenge to whoever kills the most of them."

"If you are up to it."

"Alright. May the best one of us win."

At that, Fol and the sergeant stood side by side, and fired at the few forms that hadn't already been dealt with by the Spartans. They could b counted on one's hand, a Sangheili one anyway, and in the end it ended in tie for Fol and the Sergeant.

Cut looked around, and shot at the things that were dead, trying to ensure they stay that way. She then stepped onto the Platform, and it started to turn. The others hastened to get onto it as well before it started to lower too much. They all made it.

They hit the bottom after about a minute, and The Monitor appeared next to blank, who was standing in front of the Index. "You may now retrieve the index." It sounded almost... excited to Fol. Like it was looking forward to something that was about to happen that he had hoped for.

Blank moved his hand so it was above the thing, and it ejected something, a green object shaped like a T as well.

 _Shaped like a T..._

 _The T-Shaped Key looks like that!_

Fol couldn't see why the same Key that had been at the Citadel center for a millennium was also here, though, so he didn't give it any further though.

Then a beam came out of the Monitor as Blank just grabbed it. Blank looked at it, and T and some of the others raised their weapons at the thing. It started talking.

"Protocol requires that I take possession of the Index for transport. Your organic form renders you vulnerable to infection. The Index must not fall into the hands of the Flood, before we reach the Control Room and activate the installation."

 _That made sense, but why couldn't the monitor just ask for it poli-_

Then the weird yellow flash appeared again, and Fol knew he was being teleported.

"The Flood is spreading. We must hurry." He heard the monitor say.

* * *

The first thing John saw as he appeared again in the control room was that the Hologram of Halo had more red patches, indicating the Flood had spread further across the ring. He also saw that he Flood were getting closer to Alpha base. _And Six had just sent the Marine and ODST there because they were wounded. Bad sense of timing._

John looked at the control panel, where he'd last left Cortana. Her avatar wasn't visible now.

The monitor hovered next to him. "Is something wrong, reclaimer?"

John thought for a second about letting the monitor about Cortana. It seemed like it was the 'manager' of this ring, for want of a better word, and it might be able to help them. But it was still holding back something crucial. He was sure, and from the occasional glances he saw Six give the thing, he knew Six suspected something as well. The thought only lasted for a second.

"No. Nothing." The others, namely Sam and Linda, looked at him, but they said nothing.

"Splendid" The Monitor said. "Shall we?"

They all moved to the central control panel, with Johnson moving to guard the door. The monitor hummed for a minute, before moving to hover near the panel.

"Unfortunately," It started "my usefulness to this particular endeavor has come to an end. Protocol does not allow units with my classification to... perform a task as important as the reunification of the Index with the Core. That final step is reserved for you, Reclaimer."

It removed the Index from it's chassis, and John grabbed it. He looked at it for a moment, turning it over in his hand, before he inserted it in a fitting slot in the panel. The others, including the odd elite, looked at him and the panel.

Lights started to swirl around them, and machinery started to hum, and he heard something starting up.

But then everything shut down and fell silent. The monitor looked surprised, like he didn't expect that. Everyone was looking at the flying lightbulb. "Odd." It said. "That wasn't supposed to happen."

"Oh, really?" a Female voice sounded behind him. She had her hologram projected from the panel, and a variety of colors was swirling across her body. She shot a bolt of energy from the panel, and the monitor fell to the ground, temporarily disabled.

And _boy_ , John saw she was pissed. In fact, he had only seen one person look angrier, and that was Six during her fight with Silva.

"Cortana-" He began, but Cortana continued on. "I've spent the last 12 hours, cooped up in here, watching you toady about, helping that thing get set to slit our throats." She seemed to gesture at the monitor.

"Hold on now." Sam said, holding up his hands. "He's a friend. He's _helped us_."

"Oh" Cortana said, holding her hand before her mouth mockingly. "I didn't realize, Sam. He's your pal, now? Your Chum?" Her voice then turned to anger. Damn, she was _furious_. "Do you have any idea what that bastard almost made you all do?"

"Yes" Linda said. "We were about to activate Halo's defensive systems, and destroy the Flood. Until you stopped it."

The monitor finally reactivated, looked around, and saw Cortana. "A construct? In the Core? That is _absolutely_ unacceptable."

"Sod off." Cortana said, sounding irritated and angry.

"What impertinence. I shall have you purged at once." It started to move towards Cortana, but stopped when Cortana physically removed the index, or rather the codes stored within. She held it up, and absorbed it into herself.

"You sure that's a good idea?"

The monitor was stunned, to say the least, by Cortana's audacity. It seemed to freeze in midair for a moment, before moving forward a few inches. It actually _sputtered_ for a few moments.

"How... How... how _DARE_ you? I'll..." It said, but it didn't seem to get any further.

"Do what?" Cortana finished. " _I_ have the index. You can just float and sputter."

At that point the elite moved forward, placing himself in front of the monitor, though it seemed more to stop the monitor from doing anything than stopping the argument. "Construct, I'll admit I'm not following. What is so dangerous about Halo that we can't use it to destroy the parasite that you _know_ could destroy all life as you know it?"

Cortana looked at it for a moment. Then she took on a look of pity. "None of you have an idea what _really_ is, do you? Not the Prophets, not the elites, not even your current population of Huragok."

She then turned to all of them. "Halo doesn't kill the Flood. It kills _their food_. Human, Covenant, whatever. We're all equally edible. The only way to make sure the Flood's destroyed is to starve them to death."

She gestured at the room around her. John noticed she pointed specifically to the Hologram of Halo. "And that is _exactly_ what Halo is designed to do: wipe the Galaxy clean of _all_ sentient life." she turned to the elite again. "You don't believe me? Ask _Him._ " She pointed behind them, and they all turned.

Towards the monitor.

* * *

Fol was Shocked. Stunned. Paralyzed. Dumbstruck.

Everything the Covenant was teaching was a lie. The gods that were supposed to be waiting for them, the supposed heresy of his Clan for speaking about their assumption that Forerunners weren't gods, The sacrifices his troops all had made throughout the war.

All for naught. For a lie. An empty promise.

It upset everything in his life. He knew that there was no heaven or anything waiting for him, no afterlife for him to enjoy. But a giant ring, capable of wiping out all life in the galaxy? And the Covenant willingly sacrificing all of their armies to achieve so, even if they believed otherwise? That made every fight, every scream, every death undone, their sacrifice in vain. It made his life up onto that point _useless_.

The Monitor made sense now. except one part. He turned to the Monitor, and asked, his voice showing his shock. "And the Title Reclaimer, Monitor. Why are humans granted that title, and not another species?"

The monitor turned to him, and said something even more shocking. "They were the chosen successors of the Precursors. They were supposed to take the Mantle of Responsibility. But my creators, the Forerunners, waged a massive war on them for this, and drove them to near extinction. They assumed the Mantle, and drove your species nearly to extinction as well. Were it not for the Librarian, you would have gone extinct long before the firing of the array. Why do you ask, meddler? Meddler?"

But Fol wasn't listening anymore, even though he could hear both the Monitor asking for his attention, and the Human AI explaining the basics of the Covenant religion to the others. He was taking a moment to process it all. Not only had the basics of the Covenant religion been uprooted, but they Prophets were being proven to be _false_ prophets. They were liars, traitors, deceivers, and their own blasphemers.

And they were _exterminating_ the species that was supposed to follow up the Forerunners. No, the Precursors, he corrected himself. Humans were the ones the Covenant should follow. They were the ones destined to lead the others to greatness. His respect for them was justified. Their tenacity, their creativeness, their ability to adapt to any situation. It was all justified in the end.

He turned to the monitor.

"And what the Construct said." He asked. His voice was subdued. "Everything she said. It's true, isn't it?"

The monitor answered, not noticing he was shocked. "More or less. Technically, this installation's pulse has a maximum effective radius of twenty-five thousand light years. But, once the other rings follow suit, this galaxy will be quite devoid of life, or at least any life with sufficient biomass to sustain the Flood." It paused, looking at all of them. Johnson was approaching them, holding his weapon high to attack the lightbulb if necessary. "But you already knew that... I mean, how couldn't you?"

The others were looking at the monitor. Cut approached the monitor. "It seems you left out that detail." Fol noticed she looked angry as well, like the AI. "And I remember _specifically_ asking you to fill us in on all the details."

The monitor started to back up as Cut was starting to get really close. "You left us in the dark _on purpose_. Because you _knew_ we'd refuse if we heard everything. And you _knew_ we'd set out to destroy your precious ring if we knew the full truth."

The monitor bumped against the door, and was effectively cornered by Cut. Fol started to approach the Monitor as well. "The right thing to do, _Monitor_ ," Cut practically spat the word. "is to destroy the ring. It wipes out the flood, and it's destructive power can't be used ever again."

"No" The monitor started to protest. "What if there is an infestation elsewhere, or the entire popu-"

Fol cut him off. "NO. If we don't destroy the ring, then the San'Shyuum will wipe out all life in the galaxy anyway, because of their misguidedness. We WILL destroy this ring." He raised his assault rifle at the monitor. "Whether with your permission or not."

The monitor seemed to hesitate, then it hovered closer to Fol. Or as close as Six would allow anyway. "No, Meddler. Protocol dictates the Ring must be preserved at all costs. Even if reclaimers must be killed. I do, however, require the Index from your construct." It looked at the AI, and Fol already knew the Spartans would die in order to protect it from this... 'glorified lightbulb'. The sergeant was right in choosing that name, after all.

"That's not gonna happen." Blank said, as he grabbed the AI's chip from the console and inserted it in his head. Fol agreed, and joined the others at standing in front of the AI.

The monitor sighed, then he looked at them. "So be it."

Then a few of the Sentinels, 16 in all, floated up from the abyss below the walkway, and they all hovered behind the monitor, whose eye was starting to glow bright red. "Save his head." it said, aiming with a light beam at Blank. "And dispose of the rest." He fired a red beam at Blank, but he dodged, and the beam instead hit the console. It melted before Fol's eyes.

Fol didn't hesitate, though, and he fired at the sentinels. They had shields, though, so the firing from his projectile-based weapons had no effect. Then he remembered something the monitor had said.

 _They are aggressor-class sentinels. They are present to combat the Flood. They are however, highly susceptible to plasma fire._

Fol looked at who had plasma weapons, and saw that T was using a plasma rifle to good effect. He was, however, the only one with plasma-based weaponry.

Fol then saw the door on the other side of the sentinels open, and he saw something emerging he now had mixed feelings about.

A full lance of Covenant troops.

Fol grabbed his last plasma grenade, and threw it at the lance, which consisted of three Jackals and five elites. The grenade threw the Jackals off the platform, and the elites all lost their shields. Fol gunned them down, regretting every bullet he fired at them, but still doing so, knowing that he'd be killed on sight for dealing with Spartans like that. He could have lied his way out, of course, but Fol wasn't that stupid. He'd regret every moment of doing so.

They all finally went down, and Fol sprinted towards them, scooping up their weapons. He holstered his assault rifle, and he grabbed two plasma pistols, and overcharged them, and fired at the two of the nearest sentinels.

They both crashed and burned on two that were hovering too low below them.

Fol tossed the plasma weapons to the others, and together, despite the Monitor firing his own beams at them, they all destroyed the sentinels. The monitor looked displeased. "So you're more skilled than I thought. I'll be back soon." Then a yellow flash appeared around the monitor, and he disappeared of to who knows where.

Fol turned to the others after he made sure the area was secure. They were all looking amongst themselves, and Cut was standing close to him, finger on the trigger on her rifle. She hadn't forgotten their fight on Reach, and was still eager to shoot him, despite their short alliance and her odd attempts at humor in the Flood den in the swamp. Fol looked at her, then at the others, who spotted Cut's hostility as well.

Fol thought for a moment, at a loss for what to do. He knew he had an objective, but he saw he wouldn't leave this room alive if he didn't form an alliance with these spartans. He wouldn't even be able to leave the ring, as he had shot at his own species, at his own ranks. Essentially, he had committed treason.

Fol decided for the action that was the most rash, and completely left the decision to the others. It would also likely get him killed.

He dropped his plasma pistol, unholstered and dropped his assault rifle and energy swords, and stepped away from them, hands raised.

The others looked at him, and Fol could tell from their stance that most were at the very least surprised, and at most perplexed. Cut even slightly lowered her rifle for a moment because of it, but raised it just as quickly.

He answered the unspoken question. "I have just heard something that upset everything my society is based on. My cause to fight against humanity has been uprooted, all sacrifices I've made in my life undone." He stepped towards the edge of the bridge. He didn't intend to jump off, merely doing so to illustrate the point that he trusted his fate to the humans. "All I have done up to this point amounts up to _nothing_ now. I have nothing to live for, beyond a slight hope for redemption."

He looked at all of them. "Do whatever you wish with me. All I ask is that you make it quick."

Cut started to approach him, her rifle raised, but she was stopped by Goggles, who stood in front of it. "He could be useful" She said.

"He _deserves_ to die." Cut responded.

"He has valuable intel on the Covenant, he has experience fighting the Flood, and he could give earth enough codes on Covenant fleets to actually give us a chance in this war."

"And you trust he keeps his word? A _Hinge-head?_ "

At this point blank approached as well, though the construct spoke for him. "I have analyzed all data I have on the Covenant forces, and He speaks the truth. The revelations the monitor told him contradict everything of their religion. This Intel could upset their entire society, and could actually cause a civil war among them that could last for decades. Besides, he already pledged support for our next plan: to destroy Halo."

They all looked between the Construct's carrier and Fol, and Fol looked at Blank. "I have nowhere to turn to. I already fired on my own kind. All chances I have of survival rest with you."

Fol took two steps towards Blank, and then got on one knee. "I hereby pledge my service to you, spartans, and I'll do all I can to get you all off of this Ring alive. All I ask in return is a sample, a copy, of The Halo data, enough to confirm the suspicions of my clan, so they can deci-"

"And let valuable data fall into the hands of the Covenant?" Cut interjected? "Not a chance."

"It would be used to convince the Clan to support Humanity." Fol looked at blank again. "Construct, if you want to know where it goes to, look among your databanks, or the Covenant Battlenet even, for data on _Sang'Katarn._ That is my homeworld. You will know I will use it wisely."

"One moment" sounded from Blank, and indeed, she was only silent for a moment. "Wow, that's... _interesting_."

"What?" The Sergeant asked.

"He comes from an ex-Covenant prison colony. His clan was originally sent there, after supposedly committing heresy by broadcasting their atheist beliefs. They ended up _Capturing_ the colony, and after repelling multiple invasions at a constant disadvantage, have a reluctant cease-fire with the Covenant. Roughly around 1914, the planet, named Sang'Katarn, sent cadets to the Covenant for the first time, trying to make the peace more permanent." The Construct paused. "The Cadets ended up beating the instructors in skill, tactics, strength and teamwork. The planet has since become something of a military heaven. But, unknown to nearly everyone, The inhabitants of the planet kept their atheist beliefs, and The colony, despite being the best military academy the Covenant has _and_ producing the most skilled, intelligent and pragmatic warriors, is arming up for an inevitable splitting from the Covenant."

"Impressive digging, Construct." Fol interrupted. "That last part you could only have gathered from my personal identification disk."

"I know" The Construct said. "Anyway, to top it off, the Colony is the only one without any inhabitants that feel humanity is supposed to be exterminated."

"So basically" The sergeant said "It's a combination of Harvard, the Highcom training facility on Reach, and an Atheist haven in a Catholic country from 15th century earth."

"That sums it up" The construct answered.

"And Fol-of-himself comes from this place, and shares those views on humanity you said earlier.

The construct seemed to pause, as if searching for an answer. "Yes. As a matter of fact, he's a descendant from the ancient leader of said atheist beliefs."

The Sergeant turned to Fol, while most of the Spartans were taking a bit more distance from Fol. The Sergeant stopped in front of Fol, and looked him straight in the eyes, even if Fol had lost one to Cut. "If you behave, then you can actually come along. I have taken a liking to you, and you are quite skilled. If you aid us, if you help is destroy this ring, then I have no objections about taking you along."

The others looked at Johnson, who looked straight back. "He's tough, he's fast, and he knows his way around fighting the Covenant. Hell, he's planning to actually _do_ so in the near future. He could end up becoming a valuable ally." Johnson then grabbed something out of his pocket, a round, brown cylinder, and put it in his mouth. Fol then realized he had grabbed a cigar. Johnson turned to Fol. "Will you help me stop the religious covenant?" He held out the lighter, for Fol to take.

Fol grabbed it, lit the fire, and held it close enough to light it. "I promise to do all I can to stop them." The cigar was lit, and Fol shut the fire out, and handed the thing back to the Sergeant, who took it with ease.

The others stood down, either lowering their weapons or aiming them more around the door, looking for other threats.

All except Cut.

Fol, still on his one knee, looked at her. He could understand her hostility, given the fact he had hunted her team down mere days before by his count. But they had to get around that. Or none of them would leave the ring alive.

"What are your reasons for still being hostile towards me beside your team? I want to know, so I know what I need to do to persuade you."

Cut looked at him with hatred, and spoke with vehemence. "You've said it yourself: You personally killed two members of my team, and hunted down me and the others. You are responsible for the deaths of _all of them_."

"And that justifies killing me on the spot, when I've just sworn to, using your terms, defect to your cause?"

"Maybe not, but I'm long past caring about that. I just want you dead."

"I know you do, but who will it truly help beyond yourself?"

At this Cut was silent, likely contemplating something. Then she lowered her weapon, and Fol saw from the corner of his eye that T was relaxing slightly. _So he was worried she was gonna do something rash._

"One wrong move, and I'll shoot you. I don't trust you enough."

"I know. I'll behave."

At this Cut finally gestured for Fol to get up, and handed him back his weapons. Blank held out his hand for shaking, and Fol shook it. Fol looked him in the eye. "Do I get actual names to add to each of you? In my head I just call you by short names of your helmet description."

"I'm the Master Chief, and I'm in charge of each of us standing here." Blank responded

"I don't want to go by rank, so I'm just Linda." Goggles said.

"Sam" T added to the mix. Fol turned to the sergeant. "I already know your name, Johnson, for I overheard you and the one that cost me my eye talking to each other."

Johnson immediately looked up. "And what did you hear?"

"Only about how it was an honor fighting alongside the Spartan."

Johnson sagged his shoulders, strangely looking... _relieved_? Fol didn't look ponder it too much, and turned to Cut. "And what are you called?"

Cut stood frozen for a few moments, then said "Just go by Six. I'm used to that."

"Just Six?"

"It's all you'll get."

Fol turned to the others, and asked "Is that her real name?"

"It was her call-sign on her last team, and she has stuck to it up until this point." Johnson said. "And don't try to take it personally: I don't know her real name either."

Fol nodded. "Six will do."

Then Sam turned to the Chief, and asked "So, since you just said that you have a plan: Let's hear it."

The construct spoke again. "Yes. As both Fol and Six said, we have to destroy Halo."

"already figured that. Do you actually have a plan on how we go about doing that?"

"Yes. According to my analysis of the available data, I believe the best course of action is somewhat... risky."

"We're used to it." Linda interjected. "Just say it."

"Alright. Sam will like this part: An explosion of sufficient size will help destabilize the ring, and will cut through a number of primary systems. We need to trigger a detonation on a large scale, however. A star ship's fusion reactors going critical would do the job."

"In short: We need to make a big boom?" Sam asked

"Yes."

"Hell, yes."

"All well and good, Cortana." Six interjected "But do you also have a way to get us _off_ Halo before it detonates?"

The constr- No, Cortana, Fol reminded himself, huffed. "Of course. I have Foehammer standing by, so she can get us off the Ring. No worries, I have planned for everything."

"Good."

Fol then moved towards the door. "If you want to detonate a ship, you need it's command codes. The easiest way to do that is to locate your own captain, and take his implants if he's dead." he said.

"I agree, so I'll do that. The moment I've located the Pillar of Autumn's crash site."

Six nodded, but she and Johnson seemed somehow depressed about this. Then Six rummaged in one of her pouches. She drew out something, and tossed it to the Chief. "No need to search for the Captain." Six said, her voice sad. "I wasn't gonna let the things have the CNI. I took them from his corpse, after blasting it apart."

The others nodded, all looking either down or away. Fol nodded, intending it in respect. They all moved toward the door, and Fol opened it.

Straight into an ongoing battle between sentinels and the Covenant.

Fol immediately opened fire on them with his plasma pistols, overcharging them before letting the bolts loose on the Sentinels. Two of the five went down, crashing into two elites and a grunt that stood too close. The other foes all turned towards the new venue of attack, and prepared to fire at it as well.

It would have worked too, if not for the rockets and grenades thrown and fired in their direction. It wasn't so much a battle anymore, as it became an actual massacre. The Spartans each fired at an elite, and Johnson and Fol fired at the Sentinels. They all went down, and the grunts that still stood fled from the onslaught. Linda shot them before they got to the door leading outside.

Fol saw a grunt had dropped a Fuel-Rod gun. Fol moved towards it and grabbed it, taking all ammunition he could find for it as well. In the end he found 25 rounds, and the thing had been fully loaded, the grunt dying before it could fire the weapon. He saw Sam look on, studying the weapon. Fol held it out, giving Sam a good look of it. "Our equivalent of your rocket launcher. Five rounds before reload, fires with an small arch." Fol revealed a switch behind the trigger. "If this switch is thrown, it becomes a deadman's switch. A fail-safe. Explodes with the force of a frag grenade."

Sam nodded, impressed. "Nice. Might switch it with you one day."

"we'll see if we live that long."

They made it to the door, and got outside.

"I haven't located the crash site yet" Cortana began "but we need to buy some time, in case the Monitor or his Sentinels find a way to activate Halo's final weapon, without the Index."

"Sounds logical, considering the monitor is as bent on genocide as Truth." Fol said.

"Truth?" Linda asked.

"One of the Covenant's 3 hierarchs. Based on the Holy City of High-Charity. He declared the genocidal war on Humanity."

"Handy to know." Cortana said. "Anyway, let me continue. The machinery in these canyons are Halo's primary firing mechanisms. They consist of three phase pulse generators that amplify Halo's signal, and allow it to fire deep into space. The power levels are enormous. I can't even begin to calculate the pulse's range. So, if we damage or destroy these generators, the Monitor will need to repair them before Halo can be used. That should buy us some time."

The chief nodded, then gestured up. "I saw a platform up there when we entered the Canyon. Is that where it is?"

"Yes. I've placed a nav-beacon there. Make your way there, and we can take it down."

Six looked up the canyon walls. "I like the thought of pissing off our favorite lightbulb, but I already know it will take a long time for me to climb that wall."

The others looked as well, and nodded too. Especially Johnson. "I ain't climbing no wall. I value my fingers too much, and I'd hate to scratch them during any falls."

Fol agreed, and scanned the area below the large shrine that was the Control Room.

Both the Sentinels and Flood had done a number on the Covenant here, and had cleared out the force outside. It seemed that the ones they had encountered in the hallway behind them were the survivors of the attacks, fleeing to the inside of the complex. Fol saw a lot of Flood and Covenant corpses, and here and there a few scraps of Sentinel pieces. Fol saw a lot of opportunities to resupply his arms, and he and the others did so, picking up from the corpses.

Fol now had a Fuel-Rod gun, two energy swords and an assault rifle. The Chief had an assault rifle, a pistol, an energy pistol and a shotgun. Linda had her sniper rifle, a plasma rifle, and a shotgun. Sam had an assault rifle, a plasma rifle and his rocket-launcher. Six had her shotgun, two needlers and two energy swords. Johnson had an assault rifle, a shotgun and his service pistol. All had stocked up on ammo and grenades to their fullest.

Then Fol spotted something down there that lightened his mood.

A crashed Spirit dropship, and it seemed largely intact. It would even be flyable.

If it weren't guarded by a wraith mortar tank and a full force of 15 fully promoted Zealots. A challenge even Fol didn't like taking on, even these new gold ones that changed their armor from crimson to gold.

I've spotted a pirate treasure. It's only guarded by parrots." Fol called out. The others approached, and looked at what he was pointing at. Johnson laughed at the joke. "Ahoy, matey. Let's steal the treasure, and we can all go home."

"Aye, aye, cap'n." Sam said, and most laughed, even Cortana. Then they all made their attack plans. The Chief started. "Linda, make your way up as high as possible, and get a good view. Give us covering fire. Sam, Fol: make your way to either side of that Wraith. Flank it, and take it down. Hit it in the rear if possible. Johnson, Six: You're with me, storming the beachhead. Take down as many of them as possible. Use grenades as soon as possible, and take them on from a distance. Get in position, and we all move once we're all in position."

They all nodded, and moved to their respective positions. The Chief and the others moved on down the spire down the main ramps, Fol and Sam skidded down the sides, and sprinted their way silently towards the flanks of the wraiths, using stealth to make their way around the zealots. Linda climbed the way up the spire in front of the door, and reached a maintenance platform from where she had a good view.

The last group signaled they were into position, so The Chief gave the signal, and Fol decloaked himself, fired his Fuel-Rod gun five times, aiming at the wraith. Since he could stand free due to his active camouflage, he drew the attention of the wraith. His Fuel-Rods hit the front armor of the wraith. It was damaged by the blast, and the plasma cannon mounted on top was melted. It still stood, however. It took aim at Fol...

and it didn't survive as Sam fired two rockets into the back of the tank. It's plasma engine exploded, as did the mortar energy reserve tank, and The tank was nothing but a smoldering wreck. Fol and Sam nodded to each other, and they moved to attack the Zealot force from behind, who were busy with the other spartans. They both reloaded their heavy weapons, took aim, and unloaded their clips again.

The rockets and Fuel-Rods hit the center of the group. All of the Zealots survived, as none were directly hit, and their shields were extremely resilient, only surpassed by Fol's own. They were drained from the explosions, however.

The Chief, Six and Johnson made their way from the Shrine, charging straight into the Zealots. A few of the elites saw what was going on, but they were silenced by Linda's superb Sniping skills. The others started to see them, and aimed at them.

At which point Fol and Sam fired their assault rifles at them in their backs. Three went down from the combined fire before the others noticed, and they all looked back. All of them.

 _Rookies._ Fol thought. _Likely promoted due to a lack of bodies to throw at the Flood. Pathetic. We truly are better of without the prophets._

Fol distracted them by throwing a grenade, and the elites scattered. And were easily picked off by The Chief and his group, falling like trees before noticing the flaw in their tactics. And by that time, they were down to four of them. Fol holstered his rifle, grabbed his energy swords, and challenged two of them. He saw Six do the same, grabbing her energy swords. The Zealots all grabbed their energy swords, and each carried two of them.

In synch, Fol and Six charged at the Zealots. The other Spartans held their fire to give Fol and Six some room to play. Six reached the group first, near a large arch that went up to the top of the spire, where there was a small cliff of a dozen meters. Six kicked at one's chest to unbalance it, and it toppled. It didn't fall into the Cliff, but Six now had breathing room with the other. It slashed with both blades at her head, but Six ducked, then jumped, making a kick at the elite's jaws at the same time. It tumbled down, unbalanced. Six stabbed it just as it was regaining it's balance, with the blades emerging from the back. It went down, lifeless.

Fol then reached his pair, who had also seen the Spartan take down one of their own with uneven odds. Fol sliced at both of them to evaluate their skills. Both blocked, but Fol noticed one nearly didn't bring up his blades in time.

 _Perfect_.

Fol kicked one at the forehead, and it tumbled onto it's back. It didn't get up immediately. Fol then made multiple slashes and Jabs at the other in an attempt to overwhelm it's defenses.

That took about two seconds. Fol used one blade to block two of the Zealot's, and Fol used the free one to stab at the head, and slashed across the spine. The Zealot went down in agony, and Fol stabbed at it's head again, making it's end short. Fol then turned to the other Zealot, who was just getting up. Fol charged him, and nearly hit him when the zealot made a barrel-roll sideways. Fol jumped the other way, keeping some distance between the two of them. They both got up, and eyed each other. Fol saw this one was more experienced, likely an actual Zealot. Fol then made a glance behind him, and saw Six had the swords of her opponent pinned, and she then let go, hitting him in the face multiple times, using her energy sword hilt like a knuckle-duster. The elite was stunned, and Six then stabbed it at the eye with the hilt, and activated the blade. The blades went through the brains and exited the head.

Fol looked back at his opponent, and saw he was observing the events behind Fol as well. Fol decided to distract it by charging towards it. The zealot moved to engage, but just before Fol got to it, he received a click across his com-channel. He followed his instinct, and jumped.

And he saw Six Jump through, straight into the Zealot. Both tumbled a bit before getting up. It was wounded, as one of Six' blades had sliced across it's side. It tried to attack Six...

and at that moment Fol appeared behind it, grabbed it by it's right hand, and pulled to unbalance it. Fol then slashed across the elite's throat. Fol let go, and it dropped, lifeless.

Fol looked at Six, and he gave a mock-salute with his blades still on. "Impressive. Where did you learn to fight like that?"

"Planet's already gone, and it was self-taught." Six answered.

Fol then formed his mandibles into a Sangheili smile. "Shame. I could have gone there in peace-time and looked up your teacher."

Six nodded, and they all moved into the dropship. The interior wasn't heavily damaged, and Fol was confident he could fly it up the canyon to the dropship. They waited a minute, then two, and then finally Linda appeared. She was breathing heavily, and she appeared to be exhausted.

Fol decided to ask. "What is it? You appear to be exhausted, yet you didn't run that far."

"She was heavily wounded above Reach." The Chief answered. "She hasn't entirely recovered yet from the surgery."

Fol nodded, understanding. "In that case, have her rest in this seat." Linda started to speak to object, but Fol cut her off. "It's the Gunner's seat. It'll let you help without worsening the injuries."

Linda nodded, and despite being exhausted made her way into the seat swiftly.

Fol moved into the pilot's seat, and prepared to move the ship into the air.

* * *

Six kept near the prong, so she could get out quickly in case they were ambushed.

She was suspicious of Fol, despite his claim of allegiance. Six admitted to herself he seemed honest about his defection, and he was highly skilled, as he'd just proven in their sword-fight against the zealots. But he had hunted her team, had hunted _her,_ on Reach, and she just couldn't shake her suspicions away as quickly as she liked.

They lifted into the air, and after a minute arrived at the platform. Six and Sam got out, as Johnson and John had insisted on staying on the dropship. Fol and Linda didn't object.

Six and Sam moved towards the door, and it opened. They moved inside silently.

Sam decided to break their silence first. "Look, about what was said in that corridor-"

"Don't." Six interjected.

"I just want to say something, alright?"

"Then just say it. Don't talk like you're about to go on your first date."

"I'm sorry."

Six paused, stopping in her tracks. "What?"

"I didn't intend to get you angry at all. Not at you, anyway. I was frustrated, and I happened to let it out on you. I'm sorry for that."

Six looked at him. He did look like he was meaning it. She wasn't used to that, people apologizing to her. Six never had done anything people apologized for, or they didn't live to do so if they did. She didn't know how to take it.

"Thanks, I guess?"

"You guess?" Sam asked.

"I'm sorry, but people don't apologize to me that often." Six paused, then added. "I am thankful, I'm merely not used to it."

Sam still seemed dumbstruck. "People never apologize to you?"

"I either never encounter them again, or they're dead in less than five days." Six then made the gesture of a spartan smile, showing she was joking. Sam returned the gesture.

Six grabbed his shoulder. "Really, I do appreciate it. But." Six paused for dramatical effect. "You still should aim more to the left."

Sam laughed. "I'll try." Six then let go. "Come on." She said. "We've got a pulse generator to neutralize."

They moved on, and they got to the generator after a few turns. It was a large column of energy, with a few smaller prongs coming from it's top and ending a meter at the sides from the bottom. "So, how do we do this again?"

Six sighed, then said "Cortana briefed us in the dropship. We need to enter the pulse's energy stream, and our suit will deliver an EMP that shuts down the generator. We are both needed, as just one suit doesn't deliver the punch needed to knock it out."

"I remember that part. It's what comes after that I keep forgetting."

Six rolled her eyes. "You didn't forget it. You just don't like it."

"You mean that you _do_ like the fact our suit's shields will be knocked out from the EMP?"

"No. But _I_ don't make a fuss about it, Samuel."

Sam groaned. "I hate it when you call me that."

"I know. So what?" Six then stepped towards the generator, and sam followed. They crossed the beam around the same time, And it started pulsing a lot. Then the equipment around the thing started rumbling as well. Six hit her com.

"Cortana, did that do it?"

"Scanning. The Pulse generator is off-line. Well done." Cortana responded. "Get back to the dropship, and we'll go on to the next pulse generator."

"En-route now."

Sam and Six made their way back through the hallways, their shields recharging. Six looked back at the generator before they rounded the corner, and saw the beam was starting to pulse faster. And the rumbling started to become audible.

That could only mean one thing in Six' head.

"Run!" She yelled to Sam, who was just turning around to the new noise. Sam saw it as well, and started to share her fears. They both ran through the corridor at full speed. They just got outside as they heard a loud high-tone shrill. Six started to run even faster towards the dropship. She jumped inside just as a loud blast was heard inside the hallways, and Six feared they had run out of time.

Then she jumped off the platform and into the dropship, with Sam close behind. The ship started to back away, and no sooner were they lifting up, than a large explosion of blue flames shot out from the doors, and the platform, destabilized by the explosion, fell down the canyon, crashing into the wreck of the wraith down below. It completely buried it.

Six turned to John and Linda, who were helping them up. "Next time, YOU disable the generator Cortana."

"Hey." Cortana rebutted. "I didn't know the beam would become so unstable the entire generator would explode. Besides, you made it back, didn't you?"

"Yeah, but I'd like a warning next time."

"If I can give one, I'll do so."

The ship finally lifted out of the canyon. They flew for two minutes before they entered another canyon, which was bisected by two parallel bridges and had an artificial, partially roofed trench below. Six looked around from the hatch, and saw no platform indicating there was a pulse generator. She turned to the others.

"No generator in this canyon. Let's try the next one."

The others agreed, and Fol moved the dropship over to the next canyon with ease. Six observed from the corner of her eye, curious about how to fly the dropship, in case the elite was killed along the way. They seemed simple enough.

They entered the next canyon, and there Six instead saw _two_ platforms. Six looked at the Chief again. "Cortana, which of the two platforms is it?"

"The one to the east. It's marked on your hud, and is quite close."

Six looked, and saw it was the platform behind the elevator on the central pillar.

It was also crawling with grunts carrying Fuel-Rod guns. Risky to land there right away. Six looked down all the way, and saw a lot of things. Hunters, wraiths, shade turrets, a lance of elites.

And a square of parked banshees. _Perfect_.

Six gestured. "Down there. See it?"

Johnson, Fol and Linda looked, saw what she gestured at, and nodded. Banshees were mobile enough for them to evade the Fuel-Rod guns, yet had enough of a punch to take the grunts out. The Chief was watching their HUD-view, and nodded. "Six, you, I and Sam will go down and take some of those banshees. Linda, you and Johnson take care of the Covenant below. Fol, make strafing runs on the wraith and shade turrets, but keep the dropship secure. It's our only way out of here if the platform goes down." Fol nodded.

The ship landed near a tunnel entrance, and they all went out.

John, Sam and Six headed for the banshees, while Johnson and Linda took care of the Covenant forces on the bottom of the Canyon, starting with the hunters. They were just coming from the corner of the huge pillar, when Linda shot twice, at an incredible distance. The Hunters went down, and the ricochet of one of the shots killed another zealot.

Six then sprinted towards the banshees, parked near the entrance of the pillar. John and Sam got in two, and Six was about to do do the same...

When the entrance opened up, and 4 zealots emerged, all with activated swords. _Fuck, couldn't they get one break_?

Six refrained from boarding the banshee, and instead grabbed both her energy swords. If they wanted a piece of her, they'd have to come and get it.

The elites charged at her, and Six threw a grenade just in front of herself to stop their charge. She jumped out of the way, and was satisfied to see that one went down immediately, and the others were drained of their shields. Six jumped at one, and kicked at it's midsection before stabbing down into it's back. The elite, surprised by her swiftness, combined with the fact it only now noticed it was down one comrade, was overwhelmed by her attack. It went down, it's spine burned through between the shoulder blades. Six turned to the other two zealots, and saw they were only just getting up. They then surveyed the carnage before them. Their numbers were halved in the span of five seconds, and the elites had barely even managed to even attack her. Six raised her energy swords, and was about to run towards them, when two green flashes got down from below. They hit the Zealots square in the chest, and Six saw they were mangled, and were sure to stay dead. At least until the Flood showed up.

Six looked up, and saw two banshees fly past her, and one opened it's hatch so the occupant was visible. It was Sam, who waved at her. Six waved back in thanks, then looked to see where Linda and Johnson were.

It wasn't good. They had taken down the Shade turrets, but were pinned down by the wraith. And despite Fol's multiple strafing runs on the tank, it's attention was focused on Johnson and Linda.

Six opened her com. "Chief, I'm going to help Linda and Johnson. They're pinned down, and could use a hand."

"Alright. We'll take care of the pulse generator. Just be prepared to run like hell, because the generator is right above you."

Six looked up, and swallowed. It was indeed right above her, or rather above the position Linda and Johnson were currently occupying. She keyed her acknowledgement light, then moved to help Linda and Johnson. Six saw it's attention was focused purely on Johnson and Linda.

Then Six got an idea. She sprinted towards the tank, and boarded onto it's front, near the hatch. She was now in an ideal position, for unlike the variants she had encountered often on Reach, this one had no turret up front to discourage boarding it. Six grabbed a grenade from her belt, and held it in her hand. She formed that hand into a fist as large as she could manage, then punched at the hatch to the driver's seat. The hatch buckled, and a large dent was formed. She put the grenade in, keyed the button, then jumped off, sprinting as far away from the thing as she could. It turned towards her, ready to fire...

and then the grenade went off, and the driver was killed in the explosion. Unknown to Six, the explosion severed a couple of power couplings, and the chain reaction that caused completely destroyed the wraith. Six looked on, satisfied with her work. Linda and Johnson emerged from hiding their cover, and approached Six. Six looked at them, and said "See, I can make a campfire."

"More like a bonfire" Johnson responded "but it'll do."

"Spoilsport."

Then a large boom sounded up above and Six looked up. The blue flames were coming around the edge of the platform, and then the platform started to get larger. Fast.

Six and Johnson started running away, headed back towards the tunnel entrance, as it provided shelter from most of the debris. Linda arrived a few seconds later.

And not a moment to soon, as the Platform hit the ground behind her, and it exploded before their eyes. Next thing Sam sounded over the com. "There, _I_ can make a bonfire too."

"Show-off." Six said "Come pick us up, would you? This tunnel is quite large, and I don't want to wa-"

Six was cut off, as a rocket flew past behind them, and Six, Linda and Johnson turned as one, looking at the source.

And saw a horde of flood coming their way. They were halfway from their end of the tunnel, and were charging at full speed.

And they numbered in the hundreds.

Six keyed her com again. "Where's that pick-up? I have a hundred gory Flood bastards running towards me for a hug. I want to get out now!"

" _Away_ from your fanbase? Really?" Sam asked

Johnson responded this time "Yes. Six isn't kidding when she said a hundred."

The com was silent after that, and Six was about to try again, when the dropship appeared in front of them, the open hatch turned towards them. Six and Linda jumped aboard, and Johnson followed. The ship took off.

No sooner than it did, the Flood ran through where they had been standing, and Six saw they all looked up. Towards them. Fol was already flying away from them, and after a few seconds, that seemed like a century, they finally got out of the canyon. Cortana sounded over the Com.

"I've located the _Pillar of Autumn_. She put down twelve-hundred kilometers up spin. Energy readings show her fusion reactors are still powered up."

"Terrific." Fol said. "But while we can destroy the thing, and get away with a dropship, consider this: Dropships don't have FTL-drives. How do we get out of the system?"

The others were all silent, and Fol continued. "I have a plan to solve that problem, but you won't like it."

Six glared at the elite, but the Chief responded before she could. "We'll manage. Just say it."

"We need to warn at least one Covenant ship, preferably a cruiser or the carrie, but the support vessel _Infinite Succor_ would do as well. That way, we can escape Halo, regroup with any other survivors, then board and take the ship."

"You're right." Six said. "I don't like it. But even I see our dilemma, and that you offer the only reasonable solution." the others seemed to relax. "But send it only after we have initiated the Autumn's destruction."

Fol nodded, and they all set off towards the last generator.

* * *

Stacker was confused with the behavior of the ODST Richard Wilson and his fellow marine Chips Dubbo.

They had appeared at Alpha base a few hours ago, and they had been debriefed, patched up, and no sooner had they been back in gear Silva had them put on Stacker's team, and they had secured the Hanger of the Covenant ship _Truth and Reconciliation_ ,The same ship the Chief and his team had rescued captain Keyes from.

Stacker had listened to the reports Dubbo and Wilson had made. They had accompanied the Chief and his team as they exited the weapons cache, up to the point where they had been wounded in a weird tower on the other side of the ring. They had returned, and had been with Stacker ever since.

Then Wellsley told them that he had received a message from Cortana, informing them all of her plan to destroy Halo using the Autumn's fusion reactors. Stacker was sure it would work, for despite the fact he didn't know a thing about how the things worked, they always made a big boom if seriously damaged.

Silva had promptly moved everyone out of Alpha base, and had, along with nearly all remaining human forces, taken the Covenant cruiser _Truth and Reconciliation_ , and prepared it for take-off from the Ring. The vessel had been downed by the Flood, who wanted to escape the ring as well. Silva had control of the Ship now, or at least the engineering section, the bridge, the hanger and the Grav-lift amidship. Stacker's team, along with three others, were keeping the hanger secure.

But Stacker, along with Wilson and Dubbo, had no doubts about the fact the Flood were still aboard. Only minutes ago, they had heard an argument between Silva and Mckay, with Mckay recommending standing off, and waiting near one of the gas giants until they had cleared the entire ship, while Silva wanted to head for Earth with both a treasure trove of technological marvels and a full batch of Flood samples.

Stacker had been with the team that had assaulted the bridge, and had helped clear a large Flood form off of the central command platform. Stacker had seen to his horror that the Captain had been assimilated into the creature, or at least his lower body, anyway, as his upper body was blown off above the waist. He had only recognized the man (No, Thing) at all because of the Captain-issue uniform on the legs and the fact the thing had a pipe in it's pocket.

Stacker wanted to nod contaminate the earth with these... things. One look, and he could confirm Dubbo and Wilson, with his knuckle-dusters on his fingers and chains hanging from his trousers (in violation of regulation, but Wilson had an amazing record, and was forgiven a few things for it), agreed as well. Stacker made his way over to them.

"I don't know about you guys, but I want to get the hell off of this thing before the Flood retake control. Don't you guys agree?"

"Aye," Dubbo said, and Stacker could see he meant it. "and you know I'll support you every step of the way, Sarge. But how do we get off of the ring without Silva?"

That was the flaw in Stacker's plan of escaping: they needed someone who could fly, and he didn't know anyone who could.

Then Wilson spoke up. "We take one of the spirit dropships. There are currently two here, right? We take those, and fly out of here."

"In case you haven't noticed, genius" Dubbo said "We need a pilot for that."

"I can fly it." Wilson responded.

At this, Dubbo and Stacker looked at Wilson. "Really?" Stacker asked.

"Yes. Back during the battle on Imber, me and three other ODST's hijacked a Spirit, and I was flying us away from an area that was about to be glassed. It's been some time, but I'm confident I can manage it."

Stacker looked at Wilson and Dubbo. They had a way out of here after all. Stacker looked at the two others, and then said "Well, Wilson: Lead us away.

* * *

Fifteen minutes later, they were away. Silva had approved of the test flight easily enough, so long as they flew away from the Ring along the cruiser. Wilson did so, but kept quit a distance, both to be as far away from the flood-infested cruiser as they could be and both because he was still relearning his piloting skills. He saw another dropship take off, a pelican, and it headed away from them. Wilson frowned, but kept concentrated on flying the thing.

Then the cruiser started to descent, and Wilson knew something was wrong. It was falling fast, and Wilson saw it was headed straight for what was supposed to be the island containing the Cartographer. If Silva was planning to snag a bit of Forerunner data long with him, he really was poor at making well-timed decisions. Surely Cort-

but Wilson saw the Cruiser started to roll, and it didn't slow down. Then Wilson understood.

"Sarge! Dubbo! Get up here, Now!" he called, and the others were there in less than 10 seconds. They saw as well that the ship was now beyond control, and Stacker grimaced. Dubbo still seemed confused.

"Mckay, or someone else in engineering, must have sabotaged the engines." Wilson provided. "They are deliberately crashing the ship, taking the Flood down with them."

Dubbo still seemed confused. "But there are still hundreds of our men in there."

"A worthy sacrifice, if we are to keep the bastards on this ring." Stacker said. "The things are now trapped, and they will die when the Chief blows this Ring to kingdom come." Wilson nodded, but he grimaced as well.

They all watched in silence as the cruiser crashed into the island, completely demolishing the top. The following explosion went into the tunnels below the island, and Richie knew anything either inside the ship or on the island was incinerated.

Without the Cruiser, they were stuck in the system, and he didn't know if the three of them could just board and take a covenant ship, even if they had the spartans on their side.

What will they do now?

* * *

 **A/N: There, the end of the chapter. the last (or second to last chapter, depending on how I feel about the last part) chapter will be uploaded by around the end of Februari, because until then, I am too busy with School. Rest assured: I will write First strike. but it won't be in the same story, and I'll start a separate one for that**

 **I hope you all enjoy this, because to be honest, I enjoy writing this.**

 **With kind regards**

 **Gharst Omenlumin**


	8. Chapter 8

**I'm back. Project is _finally_ finished, and I can write at a more steady pace again. I want to thank you all, and would like to note that on January the 31st (ish) This story passed the 1000 views mark. I am honestly surprised it was that liked, And I promise to continue on to at least Halo 3 (Halo 2, 3 ODST, First strike and Ghosts of onyx included) **

**Disclaimer: Now, I have no success owning Halo, so I can't (unfortunately) Change the story to fit the fans better**

 **Now: onto the Story!**

* * *

Chapter 8

 _What would they do now?_

Chips Dubbo had no idea what they were going to do now. The cruiser had been their only way to get out of the system, even if the ship had Flood-forms on board. They were stuck here now, and had nowhere to go.

Dubbo turned to the others on board, Sergeant Stacker and Corporal Wilson. Wilson was flying the Covenant Spirit they had taken from the cruiser. He seemed to just be flying there, not having an actual destination to fly towards. Chips moved away from the view.

The view being a burning Island. It used to contain the Cartographer, a real-time map of the Halo installation. But a cruiser the other humans had taken, had crashed there, sabotaged by a fellow human soldier, because the Flood had been on board. The parasite, as the large elite had called it. The saboteur had deemed the Flood too dangerous to let loose on the ship as well, and had sabotaged the ship, making it crash onto the island, and killing all the crew and flood that were on the ship, and likely everyone on the island as well, as the ship had exploded upon crashing onto the island. They had been lucky they had already left the ship and gotten out of the range of the explosion.

But now they were stuck in the system.

Chips turned to Wilson, who seemed to steer the ship to orbit.

"Where are we going?" Stacker asked, his voice low due to all the dead comrades visible down below.

"Even if we can't make it out of the system" Wilson responded, his voice low but determined. "We are still in the effective radius of Halo's detonation. The Chief and his group are still on their way to destroy the Halo by destroying the Autumn, and I don't want to be around when she goes supernova."

Chips agreed, then looked at the sensor. Or he thought it was their sensor anyway, as he barely knew anything for sure about the dropship aside from it's shape.

He saw a swarm of purple dots on the sensor, and a single, small red one.

"Sergeant." he said. "take a look at this sensor."

Stacker looked, and noticed the dot as well. He immediately hit his com unit. "To any UNSC forces in range, this is Sergeant Stacker. Do you read?"

Chips only heard static. Chips tried himself. "Anyone on this channel, this is private Chips Dubbo, please respond."

a second of static, then a voice came over the com. "This is warrant officer Polaski. I read you."

Chips let out a sigh of relief, the responded. "Warrant Officer, we are in a stolen Covenant dropship, and have no Idea where to go. Do you have a hole for us to hide in?"

"Negative. Beyond getting out of the detonation range of the Halo, we don't have a goal either. What spirit are you in? We are reading multiple heading for the island."

This time Wilson hit the Com unit. "Polaski, this is Corporal Wilson. We are in the Spirit heading _away_ from the Island, making for the bigger planetary body Halo orbits. Got us now?"

a short pause, and then Polaski contacted them again. "We got you. Want to come over to us, corporal?"

"If I had faith in me pressing the right hologram, I might take you up on that. But I only had one driving lesson, so I don't want to take unnecessary risks. We just hide in the same approximate area. Deal?"

Then a new voice added himself to the conversation. "Copy corporal. This is lieutenant Haverson. Head for the coordinates I'm sending you now, and we'll make for Threshold."

"Copy, eltee. En-route now."

Wilson moved their spirit to orbit, and he could make out the pelican the other group was using. Together they made for Threshold, to wait out the explosion of Halo.

* * *

Six maneuvered their spirit over the large beach, and after a few minutes, the _Pillar of Autumn_ came into view.

They had taken care of the final Pulse Generator. Fol and John had taken care of the Final Pulse generator, but they had been slow to emerge from the building it was in, and as a result the dropship had been too close to the explosion. The Spirit's underside had been damaged, and the turret underneath and one of their anti-grav units had been blown off. Six found it a miracle they were still in the air at all.

But now they were coming up on the _Autumn_ , and they were finally getting close to finally destroying Halo.

But then their dropship started to list, and Six knew they were nearly out of time.

The others noticed as well, and Six tried to gain a little altitude and speed, so they could still make it to the Autumn on momentum, from a higher altitude.

Six knew she couldn't make it to either a proper landing bay or the side of the Autumn anymore, as they'd originally intended, so Six did the next best thing.

She aimed the spirit so the prongs would crash into two adjacent, empty escape pod tubes.

"This thing is falling apart, Six." Cortana said, distress creeping into her voice.

"It'll hold." Six said.

"We won't make it." Cortana retorted.

"We'll make it." Six responded.

"You need to pull up, or we're gonna crash into the side of the ship."

Six looked, and saw Cortana was right. They were slightly out of alignment with the escape tubes. Six lowered the ship a bit so the prongs were properly aligned again.

"Can you at least slow down a bit?" Cortana asked, her voice starting to calm now that she realized Six was too stubborn to reason with.

"Oh, it'll slow. When we crash." Six said, glee coming out of her voice.

"What are you-" Fol started, but that was as far as he got, as the ship then violently and loudly crashed into the autumn. Everyone that wasn't seated fell to the ground.

Six looked out their viewport, and saw she had succeeded: The prongs were embedded in the empty tubes. Six opened the hatches. "Everyone out. I don't know how long she'll remain embedded into the autumn like this."

the others, getting the picture, got out, and each went into one of the two tubes. Six, being the pilot, got out last.

And not a moment too soon, for as soon as her feet left the dropship, it started to slide back out of the tubes, before crashing down down the side of the autumn. After a few long seconds, nearly half a minute, there was a loud explosion. They were, at the moment, without transport.

"Happy flying with Helljumper airlines. I hope you had a horrible flight, and have a terrible day." Six said, her voice mimicking that of the cabin crew of today's civilian transport crafts. Six had seen multiple during the defense of New Alexandria, and had made sure all got out, even if one had been shot down.

"You did that on purpose, didn't you?" Cortana asked, her voice mockingly accusing.

"Me? Deliberately crashing? Perish the thought." Six said, her voice falsely innocent.

Six then raised her two needlers, and moved deeper into the ship. Cortana sighed, then said "We need to get to the bridge. From there, we can use the Captain's neural implants to initiate an overload of the ship's fusion engines. The explosion should damage enough systems below it to destroy Halo."

They nodded, and all moved through the ship. The hallways, however, were dead ends. Fol, however, had another idea.

"How about we cut time off of our route, and use the maintenance corridors? They're spread all around the ship, and we'll get to the ship a lot faster."

"Not a bad idea." Johnson said, and moved to open one of the hatches. But Six's motion tracker went haywire, and she pulled him out of the way. The hatch blew open, and dozens of infection forms jumped out at her. Six kicked at one, and his death popped a lot of the others. Fol and the Chief finished off the others.

"We'll be sitting ducks in those corridors" Six said. "I say we use the main hallways. We'll have room to maneuver, and we can easily grab ammo from nearby corpses."

"They'll take too long." Sam said. "Besides, I thought you liked being a sitting duck."

"Shut up." Six said, and followed last as the others moved into the corridors. Six made the precaution of moving the hatch back over the corridor before catching up.

The others turned around a corner, and Six heard weapons fire. "Told you so!" she called forward.

"That's only because you jinxed it!" Linda called back. "You have it quiet and comfy there at the back. I have to take on the little bastards."

"Too close for a sniper's comfort?" Six provoked.

"Yes." Linda said. "Want to trade?"

"No, thanks."

The weapons fire finally died down. Cortana placed a waypoint on a ladder that led down, out of the corridor.

"Wait." Six said, and the others stopped. Six primed a grenade, and threw it down the ladder. After a few seconds it exploded, and she heard a lot of the walking gasbags down there bursting. The grenade, however, destroyed a few stray fusion coils that were down there, and their explosions took dow all of the little forms. Six nodded in satisfaction. "Continue." she called.

The others each went down the ladder, with her just jumping down the hole in the floor. They emerged into a corridor, with a lot of twists and turns. Six gestured at an arrow painted on the floor. Though there was a lot of fire-damage over it, Six could still faintly read the letters 'Bridge' painted onto it.

"This way." She said. The others followed her. After a minute, however, they came to a closed hatch. The arrows she had been following led straight into it.

Six turned to the others. "Anyone have any bright ideas that don't involve blasting the hatch open?"

"Awww." Sam said. "Why?"

"Because you would pa-" that was as far as Six got, however, as the hatch botched, and then fell down.

Dozens of Flood combat forms came out.

"I take that back." Six said.

Sam immediately jumped forward, and after a few seconds a rocket flew past them, and it toke out the majority of the things, with only three being out of range. Fol took them down with his swords before anyone else could even turn to the survivors.

"Show-off" Johnson said. "Let us get some of the kills as well. You take away all the fun."

"Alright, sergeant. I'll let you take the lead from here then."

"Where's the fun in taking the lead when you have a meat-shield like Six?"

"I can still hear you, you know."

They moved on. They then got to an intersection. "I remember this area." Fol said. One way goes through an armory, which I reckon is now emptied. The other goes through a mess-hall, and has a lot of cover. The bridge is just beyond."

"Let's take the covered route." The chief said.

The others agreed, and they entered the mess-hall.

Straight into a group of off-duty Spec-ops elites. They didn't notice them, and Fol fired his Fuel-Rod gun three times at the group. The elites, hearing the noise of the rods being fired, looked up.

And were hit in the face with the Fuel-Rods. Their heads were blown off, and they were blasted across the room. The remainder of the group, three grunts and a jackal, all dived into cover. The spartans each fired at them, Linda taking out the Jackal, and Sam firing a rocket at the grunts, who were all clustered behind the same piece of machinery, a candy dispenser. It went up in flames, and the Grunts died.

A candy-bar skidded to a stop at Johnson's feet, and he pocketed it. Six moved to the candy-machine when the fighting stopped, and grabbed nine other bars out of the debris. They all looked undamaged. She handed one to Johnson, and handed out the rest. Fol moved on to the hatch that led to the bridge, and held guard while Six scavenged for more food.

After a minute they had all gathered what they wanted, and they moved on. In the corridor beyond the walls were more damaged, and a lot of wall-panels had come off of the walls, indicating that they were getting closer to the outer hull. After a minute they arrived at the bridge, which was filled with Spec-ops elites.

Six holstered her needlers, grabbed her energy swords, and jumped straight into one, her swords piercing it's abdomen. They both fell down, and she got up from the corpse.

Suddenly she was grabbed and thrown away. Six made a flip in the air before landing on her feet. She looked at who had thrown her away.

It was Fol, and it seemed he was holding of five of the Spec-ops elites. He had purposefully traded himself so she could catch her breath. The Spec-ops elites had apparently learned to focus on one target at a time. It didn't help them, however, as John moved in on them, grabbing one of the elites at his lower back, lifted it up, and threw it away.

Through a broken viewport, to the outside of the ship.

Six had seen, when they approached the Autumn, that the bridge was hanging over a cliff with the forward part of the ship. Being thrown out of the viewport meant that you would fall at least half a kilometer. Very few survived such a fall.

Six then went back into the fight, attacking one of the Spec-ops soldiers harassing Johnson. Six stabbed it in the back, and then made a slice at it's neck. The Head fell off, and the thing was dead.

Six then looked around. Sam had joined Fol and John in fighting the elites, and had one in the air by the neck, using it as a literal shield against another. He threw it aside after it was dead, and grabbed the arms of the other elite. He then put his boot to it's chest. And pulled real hard at the arms.

Six already had seen that Sam was abnormally strong, to the point where he could rip hunters in two, literally, so this shouldn't have come as a surprise. And yet, Six was still shocked to see that Sam ripped the arms from the elite's body, and then use them as baseball bats against the elite. It went down, either from shock at losing it's arms like that, bleeding to death from the massive wounds, or being hit on the head too hard. It didn't get up.

Six saw Linda had provided fire support against the last of the elites. None were still standing.

John moved back to the AI pedestal near the main view-screen, which was miraculously still intact. He inserted Cortana into the systems. "I leave home for a few days, and look what happens. This won't take long." Cortana said. She put her hand to her forehead, as in deep concentration, and after a few seconds a countdown appears on the view-screen. It started at 20 minutes.

"There. That should give us enough time to get to Foehammer and put some distance between ourselves and Halo before detonation. The others nodded, and Fol already moved to leave the bridge, with Linda following close by. John moved to pull Cortana back out, but then a voice sounded over their Com. One they didn't want to hear.

"I'm afraid that's out of the question, really." 343 Guilty Spark said.

"Oh, Hell." Cortana said. The Monitor couldn't have reappeared at a worse time possible.

"Ridiculous! That you would imbue a warship's AI with such a wealth of knowledge. Weren't any of you worried it might be captured? Or destroyed?"

Six didn't know what Spark meant with that, but then Cortana spoke up with alarm. "He's in my data arrays, a local tap."

* * *

Deeper in the Ship, down in engineering, the Monitor floated around happily, going from console to console. His sentinels were all doing the same across this room. And the entire ship. They were all doing the two tasks he had assigned them: Destroy all the Flood on the Ship, and Gather all data they could get their hands, or manipulators, on. Spark was happy now, for at last he had news from outside of his own installation.

"You can't imagine how exciting this is." He said with joy. "To have a record of all of our lost time. Human history, isn't it? Fascinating."

He moved to another console, and started to gather data from it as well. "Oh, how I will enjoy every moment of it's categorization. To think that you would destroy this installation. As well as this record." He paused. "I _am_ shocked. Almost too shocked for words."

* * *

Fol looked back at the view-screen as he got back into the bridge. The countdown had stopped, and a red pop-up appeared in front of it. On it was written in white: _Self-destruct sequence aborted. Command access revoked. All systems reset. All crew are to resume normal operations._

"He's stopped the self-destruct sequence." Cortana said, incredulous. The monitor continued to ramble on. "Why do you all continue to fight us, reclaimers? You cannot win anymore. Give us the Construct, and I will endeavor to make your deaths relatively painless, an-"

Then the intercom shut off, and the monitor was silenced. Cortana then looked triumphant, though she looked like she was still busy with keeping it like that. "Finally. I've regained control of the intercom systems."

"Where is the luminous lightbulb hiding then?" Fol asked.

Cortana looked at him. "I'm detecting taps throughout the ship, Sentinels most likely. As for the monitor..." Cortana's face then showed alarm. "He's in engineering. He must be trying to take the core offline. Even _if_ I could get the countdown restarted... I don't know what to do." Cortana held her hands up to show she really had no idea.

One of the others, Sam, looked like he had an idea, however. And Six seemed to immediately disagree with it. Sam spoke up. "Cortana. How much firepower would it require to overload one of the engine's shields? Cause the reactor _itself_ to go critical?"

Cortana looked at him, confusion creeping into her expression. "Not much. A well-placed grenade or rocket perhaps. But why..."

Then Fol caught on, and he unholstered his Fuel-Rod gun, and Sam did likewise with his rocket launcher. Both of them tossed inactive grenades into the air a few times before catching them.

Cortana and the others caught on as well. Johnson started to outright laugh, starting to double over. Linda and the Chief looked at each other, and Fol couldn't read their expressions. Six seemed to dislike the notion, though Fol thought he heard her chuckling. "Did either of you fall on your head during birth, that you have such crazy suicidal ideas?"

before either could respond, Johnson piped in. "Like you ain't crazy?"

"I at least _wait_ until I have left a ship before destroying it."

"How about the escape pod down on Halo, then?" The Chief retorted. "It was pretty blackened when we emerged."

"Ok, point"

They then all moved back inside. They went back to the door leading to the mess-hall. It was locked.

"Let's try the armory then." they all agreed, and they entered. It was abandoned, but there were still a lot of weapons on the ground.

"Oh, yesss." he heard Sam say, and Fol turned around. The chief looked as well, and it seemed like his mood lowered. "Oh, no."

Sam was busy dismantling a turret from it's stance. It was a very similar to the turret often seen on Human Warthogs, although it had no swiveling stance like on the vehicle. It had multiple ammo boxes attached to it. Sam seemed to be busy attaching the ammo boxes together, and and after he was done, attached them to his back, left of the rocket launcher. Linda approached now as well with the others, and she started to laugh.

"Sam, you do realize you already have a rocket launcher. You don't need a mini-gun as well."

"But I like both." Sam said, like a human child, mockingly. "Please mommy? Please, Please, Please?"

The Chief immediately shook his head. "The last time you had a turret, you nearly shot me in the head because you were destroying a wraith behind me."

"That was the old M247H machine gun. This one is different."

"I was referring to your aim."

"It ain't that bad."

"No. It's worse."

Sam finally finished with all the ammo boxes, and then lifted the turret up with ease. "So just point me in the general direction. No problem then."

The Chief sighed, then stepped aside. "Just don't shoot us."

Sam nodded, and they moved out, into the hallway.

Straight into a fight between the Flood, the Sentinels and a group of Covenant. Specifically 4 hunters and 8 spec-ops elites. The Flood were in the middle, pinned down by the Sentinels and Hunters.

Six turned to the Chief. "Sit this one out? Or claim all the kills?"

The Chief seemed to contemplate it for a moment, and then he seemed to nod, raising his assault rifle. "Let's claim all the kills. If only because I'm pissed we are going this slowly."

Six nodded, and together they jumped out, each shooting at the Flood, Chief with an assault rifle and Six dual-wielding Needlers. Fol and the Sergeant focused their fire on the Flood, killing all that stood in their way. And Sam and Linda were concentrating their fire on the Covenant forces.

And Sam was tearing them apart. He constantly focused his fire on the Spec-ops soldiers, and their shields couldn't stand the onslaught delivered by the mini-gun. Linda used her sniper rifle, and each time she fired, one of the hunters fell. She was apparently an excellent sniper, able to hit the orange weak spots between the armor.

Fol used one free hand to pull a combat form closer to him, and then stabbed at it's abdomen, lifting it up in the air. He then pushed the corpse back down, and pulled his sword out of it. The blade then extinguished, the battery too low on energy to continue forming a blade. He dropped the hilt, and grabbed his other sword. He then grabbed a plasma grenade, and threw it in the middle of a group of carrier forms. They all blew up, and the explosion of the carrier forms cleared up a large portion of the group of combat forms Johnson was fighting. Together they cleared the remainder of the group.

The Chief and Six were taking on the Sentinels, which was slow-going. For every Sentinel they took out, another always seemed to take it's place. Six was taking excellent care of the Sentinels, as her Needlers were very accurate, and the combination of a large amount of needles and close proximity to each other cleared out a lot of sentinels. It went even faster with the unique feature of the needler: if enough needles were imbedded in a target, the needles would all explode, and this seemed to work extremely well on the sentinels.

But they always kept coming from other hallways and maintenance corridors, and soon the Chief and Six started to fall back, with each covering the other's retreat.

Fol took care of the final combat form, and then decided to help them, firing at the group with his Fuel-Rod gun. The things exploded violently, and they all took down at least three of their kind when they did.

After a while the pile of debris, both from the sentinels and from damage to the surrounding walls and ceiling, became so high that the sentinels couldn't come through it anymore.

Fol turned to the others. "Well, we can't go through that way. Any other routes, Cortana?"

"Head for the Cryo-bays." Cortana said. "We should be able to get to the Engine Room from there."

Fol nodded, and moved to follow the arrows on the floor with _Cryo-Bay_ written on it. It was a few minutes, but after a short while, they got to the Cryo-bay.

And it was filled to the nock with Flood and Sentinels fighting it out.

* * *

Sam and John both went in from the right entrance, while Six and Fol from the other. Linda and Johnson, both not optimally suited to fight in such large crowds at the moment, went into the other Cryo-bay, and used the ladder there to get up to the second floor and provide covering fire.

Johnson was glad he could sit this one out. Mostly. He wasn't a proper Spartan like Six or the Master Chief, and he didn't have the augmentations that allowed him to survive those conditions of fighting in extremely large crowds like the others were doing right now. He and Linda instead moved to the upper catwalks, so they could cover the others as they fought the 90 or so Flood that had seemed to swarm the room.

He looked at Linda, and asked "First time on a catwalk? Need higher heels?"

"When this is over, Johnson, I'm gonna raise your voice an octave."

Johnson took that in stride, and then, in a really high voice, sang "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. How I wonder what you are."

Linda started laughing at that. "Were you born in the same insanity ward as Six? Because you two seem a lot alike."

"No. Unfortunately."

I expected you to say 'Fortunately'."

They both laughed. But then they arrived at their position. They both went silent, and picked up their ranged weapons, Linda her Sniper rifle, and Johnson his M6D Magnum pistol. They both lined up their shots, and focused mostly on the carrier forms. Their explosions took out a lot of them, but each time they took out one, dozens of the little infection forms emerged. They all headed for Fol, and Johnson called over the com "Fol. Little squids at three o'clock."

Fol didn't reply. And he didn't need to. He just jumped up, and threw a frag grenade at the bunch creeping up on him. The grenade exploded, and not only the infection forms died, but the grenade took out a lot of combat forms as well.

Johnson shot three times at the red area's of the flood forms, and each time one fell. He then called to Linda "Hey, Linda! 12 already!"

"I'm at twenty seven."

"What!" Johnson called. "I really need to get the steroids you're using."

"Well, you're 27 years too late. We're out now."

"Shit"

And they kept at it, bantering as they shot down the entire contingent of Flood, as the others down below slaughtered them. Fol had found another energy sword, and was using it to great effect with his other. Sam was slaughtering the Flood with his Rocket Launcher and his mini-gun, switching between them often. The Chief was working his way to the ladder on the other side efficiently, wasting not a single shot, and keeping the Sentinels up above extremely busy with plasma grenades. And Six...

Six was holding two energy swords, and was slaughtering the Flood directly below them, taking out everyone that got close to Johnson and Linda. And she wasn't even truly focusing. During each attack she was already looking for another thing to kill before she was even finished with her current opponent. She mostly focused on flood in her immediate vicinity and Sentinels, with her often kicking nearby Flood-forms into the floating machines. The Fight, despite the large amount of numbers, lasted less than five minutes.

After that, the entire room was silent. No sentinels firing lasers at them. No Flood forms trying to infect them. It was silent.

To Johnson's liking too silent.

He got up, and looked around, making sure he hadn't missed anything.

And wished he hadn't.

Through the door they had entered, a Juggernaut emerged. It was hunched and crouched, and it seemed to have it's long tentacles folded around it's body.

But it still got through, and stepped onto the walkway. Headed straight for him and Linda. But what followed behind shocked Johnson even more.

Dozens of combat forms, all armed with Close-combat weaponry like shotguns and energy swords, were following close behind.

Johnson covered Lind while she jumped down from the Catwalk they were on, and then followed close behind. But the Juggernaut extended it's two tentacles, and Johnson was flung across the room before he could utter a curse.

Then his head hit the bulkhead hard, and he was knocked into unconsciousness.

* * *

Six saw the Juggernaut emerge and fling Johnson across the room, and her blood froze. They had already fought three of the things in the library, and it wasn't exactly fun to fight them.

But they were now in a small, closed space, with nowhere to hide or run to.

Six grabbed her bandolier of grenades, and threw it at the thing, and shot at it with her needler continuously.

One of the Needles hit a plasma grenade, and the grenades all exploded, the Juggernaut disappeared in a flash, and Six thought for a moment they had dealt with it.

But then the cloud of plasma vapor dissipated, and it emerged, nearly unscathed.

 _Oh, no!_

Six grabbed her shotgun, and started to blast away at the thing, trying to destroy the tentacles, or at least damage it as much as she could before it got her.

Then a lot of fire joined her effort, and the Juggernaut turned away from her.

Sam was blasting away at the thing with his newfound toy, and it was ripping deeply into the creature'sflesh.

Unfortunately, it merely made it more angry instead of actually hurting it.

Six started to move towards it, intent on fighting it, but then her head started to hurt real bad, and the next thing she knew, she was doubled over in pain. A deep, gravely voice sounded in her head.

 _Resistance is futile, humans. Join your voice with mine, and see your victory everlasting._

Her head started to clear, and Six started to get up.

And was surprised she could actually do so. The Flood weren't attacking them, the Juggernaut seemed to be standing off, and the Flood seemed to be staying on the walkways.

Six started to aim, but then her head started to hurt again.

 _What the Hell is wrong with me?_ Six thought.

 _You are, like me, an abomination. A curse upon this Galaxy. Join me, and remove the stain._ The odd voice said.

Six ignored the voice, letting her training take over. If someone tries to convince you to join their side while calling you an abomination in your face, don't listen to it. Six had thought that to herself at the age of 7, two years before the Covenant attack on her homeworld, when she was bullied because of her gifts that few could understand. It had saved her a lot of times from a beating.

And it would help her now.

Six got up, ignored the intense pain in her head, and fired at the Flood. A roar sounded in her voice, and she thought she saw a few of the Flood tremble, but Six kept on fighting regardless.

Six fired at the Juggernaut, who seemed to be charging her. Six jumped aside, and let it ram itself into a stack of containers.

Which was a great mistake.

It burst a few containers of liquid nitrogen, and it all went straight onto the Juggernaut. It flash-froze in an instant. Six didn't waste the opportunity, and shot at it. The Juggernaut, now being a giant popsicle, broke apart, with millions of fragments of frozen Flood flying everywhere.

Another roar sounded, though it seemed... weaker to Six. The other Flood forms on the catwalk seemed stunned, so she took the opportunity to look around.

It didn't look good. Johnson was still unconscious, and the others either held their head in pain, or were even doubled over from it. The only one who seemed to be coping, like her, was the Chief. He was getting up, shaking his head to clear it a bit. Six looked back at the Flood-forms, and saw that there were about three dozen flood-forms up there. Six moved to Sam, grabbed his rocket launcher, and fired at the group.

The majority of the group, being tightly packed on the catwalk, were immediately killed by the explosion, and the force took down eight more. In the end, only three remained completely undamaged, with five more being damaged. Eight in total.

 _Piece of cake._

Six threw a grenade at where she was standing, and jumped away. The three undamaged ones landed where she had just stood, having jumped down from the catwalk. The grenade exploded, and al three of the forms fell apart. Six thought she spotted a short flash of a shield, though, before they went.

 _So the things have shields now? Not good._

Six turned to the other five, but they were already under fire by John, who had recovered enough to fight as well. Three of them were already taken down, and John fired at the last two from a distance with his assault rifle. The two damaged ones, having weapons with no good range for this kind of fight, were taken out in nearly three seconds.

Six moved over to him, and asked. "Heard that voice as well?"

"Yes. What did it say to you?"

"Something about resistance is futile. I didn't catch it all due to the fact I was trying to rise above the pain."

"I did the same, but Cortana caught what it said to me."

"Resistance is futile, humans. Join your voice with mine, and see your victory everlasting." Cortana supplied. "It apparently got a reaction from one of us, because it turned it's attention away from us."

"Any idea what it was."

"The Gravemind." sounded behind them, and both Six and John turned around.

Fol was starting to get up, and, though he was still holding his head, seemed to be holding up now. "I read something about it becoming telepathic as it transcended from it's Proto-form to a full Gravemind. We must be cautious now. We hurt it by taking out so many forms, but it's only a matter of time before it tries again."

"And _why_ didn't we hear about this from you before? Shouldn't _you_ be our expert on these things?" Six asked angrily. "Because I'd like a warning next time something assaults my mind. I am content with the voices I have right now. I don't want a new one."

"I didn't tell because I didn't suspect it could already form a Gravemind. I underestimated how fast the Flood developed. My mistake."

"One that nearly got us killed. I am almost starting to think you are trying to kill me again, like on Reach."

"I am not trying to kill you. You wouldn't be alive if I did."

"The Scar says otherwise, Split-face."

"Oh, you insole-"

"Enough!" Cortana practically shouted, and both Six and Fol looked at the Chief, her carrier and where her shout emanated from. "If you two start going at it again, fine. But at least wait until we don't have a telepathic parasite, homicidal drones and genocidal religious fools after us. At least wait until two of those are taken out, or I'll make your life a living hell. Understand?"

Both looked at each other. Fol then walked away, helping Johnson wake up. Six moved the other way, towards the catwalk, but John grabbed her arm.

"Is your hatred going to be a problem?" John's question was short and direct, so Six responded in kind. With the truth.

"Only if he is still hiding something that could get us killed."

John nodded, but still held on. "He has valuable intel. I can't let that just walk. I'll be honest and say I don't trust him yet either, but I'm willing to give him a shot."

"With me he has to earn it, and so far he hasn't really since leaving the Flood swamps."

"Nevertheless, Don't shoot him. At least until we're off of Halo. That's an order."

Six nodded. She didn't like it, but it was an order. "Aye, sir."

The Chief then let go, and Six moved up the ladder, securing the catwalk and the Cryo observation bay. It seemed secure, and Six aimed her shotgun at the hallway beyond.

After ten minutes, the others all came into the observation bay as well. They moved on, through the hallways that led to the aft of the ship near the engines. After a few minutes, however, they came to another dead end, a door barricaded by debris come loose during the crash. There were a lot of Sentinels waiting on the other side, visible through the crack between the doors.

Six looked around, searching for a way around.

 _There. Another maintenance hatch. Great._

"Over here. Another route through dark, narrow tunnels." Six called.

"Oh, the deja vu I'm getting from that." Johnson called, referring to his time in the underground forerunner facility.

"Yeah. You can always stay behind you know. We won't miss you."

"And miss my chance of stealing you kills? No way."

Six entered first this time, moving through the maze of corridors and, later, crawl-ways. After a few minutes, they exited.

Straight into another three-way fight between Sentinels, Flood and Covenant soldiers.

But this time it was a lot harder. The entire force of the Covenant consisted of hunters, eight in total. The Flood had three Juggernauts fighting them, with about a dozen Combat forms providing support. And the Sentinels...

They had several new type brought with them. It had two shields in front that were alongside each other. It had 4 visible manipulator arms, though two were now folded. It had one eye, and, judging from all the pulse beams and missiles coming from it, armed to the teeth.

And it was just as large as a juggernaut.

"An enforcer-class Sentinel." Fol said from behind Six. "Heavily armed, but only used in large-scale Flood outbreaks. The Monitor must be getting desperate if he deploys them now, on this ship."

"Any way to take them down?" Sam asked.

"Only attack from behind, as their forward shields are too strong for us to deplete. Wait in the shadows until it finds the Flood or Hunters more interesting."

"Roger."

"Still leaves the question about whether we should attack here or not." The chief said. "I think we should sit this one out, and take down the victor."

"I second that. Unlike you guys, normal guys like me could use a break every once in a while." Johnson said.

"I agree." Linda said.

"Sounds good. Let's break out the popcorn." Sam said.

Six didn't disagree, she merely waited back in the hatch near where they were fighting, serving as watch in case the fighting got too close. The others sat down, and took a short food break.

Fol, after a few minutes, joined her in watching. At the moment, it appeared the Hunters were losing, with their numbers halved by both the Sentinels and Enforcers, and the Flood. The Hunters were in an effective crossfire, and the Sentinels seemed to just keep coming, likely from a large breach in the hull further down the Hallway. The Flood lost one of their Juggernauts to the combined fire of The hunters, who all focused fire on a single one of the things. And despite their high resistance to damage, even the juggernaut couldn't survive four shot at the same time.

As it went down, another roar sounded down the Hallway, coming from the way they were supposed to go. It sounded a bit stronger than when they were back at the Cryo-bay, but not as strong as the first time Six heard it.

"That's the Gravemind, roaring in either pain or rage. It seems that it can still be hurt by taking down it's larger pawns." Fol said.

"How do you know so much about these things if they were extinct for over a hundred millennia?" Six asked.

"Two reasons. One: Sang'Katarn seems to be placed on a planet rich with Forerunner record stores. We had a lot of useful information, and centuries to access and translate it. I received a lot of lectures about history, both ancient and recent, and I paid attention, so I learned a lot."

Fol paused for a bit. "And Two: The Covenant encountered them before."

At this, Six sat up straighter. "Where?"

"A Forerunner Shield-world, designated 0459. There the containment facilities had failed as well. The Cove-"

"What's a Shield-World?" Six interrupted, keeping her eyes on both him and the fight outside. The Hunters were nearly all dead, and the Sentinels lost an enforcer to a rocket-wielding Combat-form. Six didn't trust the Field-Marshal one bit, even if he was now following the Chief's commands.

"A hollow planet, build by the Forerunners. Since Halo is now revealed to be a weapon of mass-destruction, I assume it was build as a shelter against it's effects. Anyway, The Covenant found a way to the interior, and they found a massive fleet of Forerunner warships there, waiting to be unleashed from their docks. It required a human to unleash them, though, so the Prophet of Regret had the Arbiter at the time capture one."

"I don't recall the Covenant ever taking prisoners." Six said, as a way to look like she paid attention. But in her mind she was still processing all he was telling her, and trying to tell whether he was lying or telling the truth.

 _A shelter against the effects of Halo? Another Flood outbreak? A massive fleet of Forerunner warships? Why hadn't they noticed any of it?_

"That's because this one human was the only exception, and to the best of my knowledge she is still missing." Fol answered.

"And when was this again?"

"By your calendar? 2531."

 _2531? but that was during the Covenant war. But there were no prisoners taken back then. The Covenant were still busy committing mass-genocide in the outer colonies._

 _Wait. The battle of Arcadia. She had been too young to remember. During that battle, a ship had gone missing, suddenly jumping into Slipspace in pursuit of a Covenant Destroyer. The..._

"The Spirit of Fire." Six said aloud. Fol looked at her, with a confused look on his face. "How did you know it was involved?" he asked.

"It was the only human ship that went missing during that time. I was too young to remember it, but I read the reports about it. One of them stated it that a scientist of ours had been captured, a Dr. Anders."

Fol nodded, impressed. "So you are smarter than a mere foot-soldier. Yes, the Spirit of Fire followed the Covenant to the Shield-world. They also entered, got their scientist back, and destroyed the fleet."

Six was silent for a minute, and glanced back outside at the battle, which was almost over. It was clear that the Sentinels and Enforcers were winning. The Hunters were all taken out, and the Flood had only a single Juggernaut remaining, while there were still five enforcers in the large hallway. Six looked better at the hallway beyond, and saw it was in fact the service corridor, one you could race Warthogs across for a sprint race. It ran along the length of the Ship. In this particular section the roof was closed off, but she knew that at other sections the roof was open to the sky. Six suspected they would have to drive across it at high speed once they were done in the engine room.

"Did the ship make it?" Six finally asked.

"The Shield-world had an artificial sun on the inside in order to sustain life on the inside." Fol answered. "The Spirit used her Slipspace Drive to cause that star to go Supernova. It destroyed the Shield-world, The Flood and The Forerunner warships, and almost all of the Covenant armada. The Spirit of Fire got out of the Shield-world in time..."

"But without her Slipspace Drive, She was left adrift in space, traveling to Human territory for years, with the crew all in Cryo." Six finished.

Fol nodded. "My clan attempted to find them, but we lost them when the travelled through a star system's Oort cloud. She hasn't been found to this day."

Six looked between Fol and the fight. It was now more of a massacre actually. There were Four enforcers, but all of the Juggernauts had been killed, and for the enforcers it was a piece of cake taking down the numerous combat forms.

Six looked back at Fol. He was an elite, he had killed Kat and Emile, and was likely responsible for Jorge's death as well. He had even tried to kill her, multiple times. He had waged war on humanity for years. And yet Six, despite past telling her it was wrong, still found she was starting to trust him. He seemed to be telling the truth the entire time, and he was always watching their backs. He always helped their team. The others seemed to already get along with him well, even Cortana and Johnson. Or maybe she just noticed the contrast between their acceptance of him, and her initial hatred of him.

"I believe you." Six said. "I am still wary of what you intend, but I believe that you are telling the truth about this matter." Six looked outside. The Sentinels and Enforcers were finished killing off the Flood, and seemed to be holding position, waiting for orders from the monitor. She looked back at Fol. "Get the others. The fight is over. Tell them the Sentinels won."

Fol nodded, and then moved back around the corners and twists of the tunnel to the others. After a minute, they all were gathered again at the hatch.

"what's the situation?" Sam asked.

"Four Enforcers and about ten to twelve Sentinels are still hovering. The Flood and Hunters are all dead. We are currently at the Service corridor that runs along the length of the Ship. The engine room is on the other side, with a Warthog parking garage and an armory in between."

The others nodded, and the Chief took charge again. "Alright. Fol, Sam: You two take down the Enforcers. Use explosive weaponry, not the mini-gun. It'll take too long otherwise. Six, Linda: Handle the other sentinels. Johnson." Johnson looked at him. The Chief continued. "We are going to play rabbit for the enforcers."

"Playing flying turkey for odd, homicidal drones can be scrapped off of my bucket-list then?"

"yep."

"Hurray"

They all went on to their assigned tasks. Sam and Fol, with their Fuel-Rod gun and Rocket Launcher, moved to the next hatch, so they emerged behind the Enforcer's shields when they emerged. The Chief and Johnson ran out first, sprinting down the Service corridor to the door across, which was a hundred meters to the aft. After a second, Sam and Fol emerged, around the same time as Linda and Six emerged. They each unloaded their ammo on their targets.

The sentinels seemed to be going down really quickly. The fire from both Linda's plasma rifles and Six's Needlers cut the numbers of the sentinels rather quickly. They had to evade the occasional beam from a sentinel, but most of the time they were too busy evading both the weapons-fire from the Spartans and the debris from their own fallen to take proper aim.

Sam and Fol had each fired a rocket/fuel-rod at an Enforcer, aiming for their anti-grav units. They hit the things, and two of the four Enforcers crashed to the ground, and exploded from the violent crash soon after. The other two noticed, and turned around, raising their shields against the new threat. Sam fired two rockets at the shields of one, but it just shrugged off the explosion. Sam was about to drop his weapons and run into cover...

When Fol jumped on top of one of the enforcers, hanging from it's front, and fired at it's central eye. It didn't seem to take damage, but it still started to charge forward.

Exactly as Sam suspected Fol had intended, as he jumped off, and the Enforcer crashed into it's partner. Both their shields went down, and sparks came from both, but they still hovered in place.

But without shields, Fol and Sam had an easier time taking care of the things, and after a volley of two rockets and five fuel rods, the things crashed and burned. They didn't get up.

Johnson and the Chief came running back, and the four of them joined Linda and Six in taking down the Sentinels. After ten seconds they were done.

Six prodded one of the Enforcers with her boot, and, satisfied it was truly deactivated, moved back towards the at of the ship through the hallway.

"Take the first door to the right," Cortana supplied "go through the garage, and head down the elevator to your left. After that, you will come across an intersection, with the right leading to a downwards ramp to the Engine room, and the left leading to an armory. I advice stopping there first, as it has a lot of heavy weapons in storage."

"Did someone say heavy weapons?" Sam asked jokingly. "Because if they did, I'm in. I'm a simple man."

"Yeah." John said. "All you care about are explosives, mini-guns, blood and Booster Frames."

"You forgot the Scorpion tanks." Linda said.

"No, I don't. Ice cream fits somewhere in there as well."

Johnson laughed at that. "Well, my combination is beautiful women, a good gun, and a good buddy to die alongside with."

"With us as company, you can forget about the first one, Johnson." Six said, and Sam and Linda laughed.

Six then stepped through the door. In the garage there were four warthogs left. The first was a M12R LAAV, with a missile turret in the back, directly to her right. The second was a M831 Troop Transport, which swapped the turret in the back for an extended tray with a skeletal cage around it, offering more room for passengers. It stood right next to the M12R LAAV. The other two were a M12 Light Reconnaissance Vehicle, which had a mini gun on the back, similar in appearance to the one Sam was carrying, and a M12G1 Gauss Warthog, which were both parked right next to the door they were supposed to go through. Six checked all of the vehicles.

 _All had their keys in the ignition. Good._

Six moved further down to the elevator, and was about to step in, when Cortana spoke up.

"I've got bad news. Silva and the rest of the humans had taken the Cruiser _Truth and Reconciliation_ , but the ship crashed a few minutes ago. I just picked it up." Cortana paused. "The ship exploded, and there are no survivors."

They all stopped, and Six looked at John who carried Cortana. "Send through any footage you have."

Immediately on her HUD, a new feed appeared, and for a moment Six didn't recognize it. It was an Island that was on purple fire, with here and there little bits of wreckage sticking out. Then Six looked around it, and immediately she saw what had exactly happened. The ship had taken off, but lost control in the middle of it's attempt to leave the atmosphere, and crashed bow-first down into the island of the Cartographer. It had dug itself deep enough that the tunnels below the island were exposed to view, and the explosion from the ship's overloading reactor had blown the island apart.

No one could have survived that explosion.

"Cortana, how could it be that Halo is still intact? The _Truth and Reconciliation_ is even longer than the Autumn."

"The Cartographer Island has a junction of a lot of the tunnels that honeycomb Halo." Cortana answered, her voice sad as well. "The blast was directed into the tunnels, instead of directly into the critical systems of Halo. The _Autumn_ isn't placed over such a junction, but instead over an important power regulator. If the ship explodes here, it'll destabilize the ring enough that she would be torn apart by gravity. That is, if the damage done to a lot of primary systems doesn't do the job first."

The others all nodded, and they continued in silence. There would be time to properly grieve later.

Six pushed the button, and after a minute, as Cortana had said, they emerged into an intersection. As she had advised, they first headed left, to the armory.

And hit the mother-load of luck. First of all, it was abandoned. Second, it was filled with weapons of any kind. Not just Human weapons, but Plasma rifles, plasma pistols, needlers, even a few Fuel-Rod guns. And third, there were only two ways in, theirs, and a hatch that was locked.

"Jackpot." John said. They all moved to reload. Linda switched her plasma rifles for fully charged ones, and reloaded on her shotgun and sniper rifle ammunition. Johnson switched his pistol over for a plasma pistol, and restocked on grenades. Fol grabbed the Fuel-Rod guns, and added their ammunition to his belt. He switched his energy swords over for fully charged ones, which were holstered on a zealot's corpse. Sam restocked on rockets, removed the ammo-box-configuration from his back, and replaced the empty and half-filled boxes with full ones. Six and John waited, covering the others before thy started restocking themselves.

Then a shimmer moved down the hallway at a slow pace, and Six raised her needlers. John raised his assault rifle as well, and Linda, who was the first of them to finish up, joined them.

"Linda?"

Linda paused for a second, and then actually took a step back. "Thermal shows twelve Flood Combat Forms approaching, Chief. All Cloaked."

"They can now use active camouflage?" Fol asked. "I've never heard of them using equipment like that before."

"Well, there's a first time for everything." John said. Sam joined the group, and John threw all of his grenades down the hallway. They exploded, and all of the forms died, being too close to the explosions. Linda looked again, and nodded. "Clear for now. I suggest you and Six stock up now. We'll keep them off of you if more appear."

John nodded, and he and Six restocked as well. Six swapped her needlers for what seemed to be a new version of the Needle rifle she had seen on Reach. It had a slightly longer barrel than a DMR, had a green ammo counter that doubled as a scope, and was colored purple/grey for the most part.

Fol eyed the weapon. "Ah, a Covenant Carbine. Meant to replace the Needle rifle in a few months, and they are currently being mass-produced. It fires 18 shots per clip, has better range and accuracy than the Needle rifle, and fires case-less radioactive projectiles instead of Blamite or plasma. I wasn't aware Thel Vadam had secured a few for his fleet."

Six nodded, and grabbed all ammo she could find for it. Her armor systems scanned the weapon, and after a few seconds her HUD added the sights for the weapon. Six saw the Chief had restocked on ammunition for his assault rifle and shotgun. He had switched his plasma pistol for a plasma repeater. He inspected the weapon. Six sent him her summary of the weapon on a typed message, and after a moment he tested the manual cooling vents. Satisfied he could handle the weapon good enough, Six moved to join the others. John joined them after a few seconds.

They moved towards engineering as a group, went down the ramp, and saw the engine room.

It was a battlefield.

There were dozens of Sentinels flying around, with more coming out of the woodwork every second. A hole had been made in the roof, and every five seconds an Enforcer flew down and joined them.

They, the Monitor included, were all fighting an incredibly large amount of combat forms and Juggernauts, which had secured a hole near the engine thrust nozzles, close to where their objective, the engine's new Fusion Reactors, were located.

And crawling inside by means of at least a dozen tentacles, was the largest Flood form Six had ever seen. It was large, had the vague shape of a large plant, and had four outer jaws and two inner ones. The inner ones had an incredibly large amount of teeth.

It was also the largest form Six had ever seen, to the point it actually touched the roof.

And then it started to talk, in the same voice as the one in her head back in the Cryo-bay.

 _You, monitor, are no match for me. Your makers aren't there to help you now. Surrender, and I'll see your existence is preserved for eternity._ Six was surprised she could hear it's voice in her head as well.

"And let this installation fall to disrepair? And help you consume every sentient thing in the Galaxy? Never." The monitor retorted. He didn't sound as confident as he did back on the bridge, but he did seem determined to destroy the Flood. Whatever the cost.

"Cortana, can we destroy the reactor without having to fight the armies down there?" Sam asked. "Because I'm not sure I have enough explosives left by the time we reach the reactor."

"Negative. There's too many bodies down there. There's no way we can reach the main reactor down there."

Six looked around. They had to fight through that thing and the armies of Flood and Sentinels. There was no way through.

 _Unless..._

"How about we damage the exhaust ports? They're merely one level down, and if we block off those port, the reactor will overheat on it's own." Six said.

The others looked at her. "And how do you want to block it? With rockets?" Linda asked, her head tilted in curiosity.

"As I initially suggested." Sam said, putting his rocket launcher on his back, and grabbing his Rocket Launcher. "We blow the hell out of them. Even our piranha plant can't clear the resulting debris fast enough to prevent the reactor's explosion."

The others nodded, and even Fol seemed to agree. "as long as we don't have to engage the Gravemind I won't complain."

" _That's_ the Gravemind?" Cortana asked. "I expected something... bigger somehow."

"I've never seen actual images of one, but given it's speech, I don't think it can be anything else. As for it's size, remember it's only a few days old. At most."

"Valid points."

Johnson looked at it, then huffed. "That ain't no Gravemind. More like an oversized shrimp."

Then the Gravemind turned towards them, and laughed. _Now, the knights are in place. The King toppled, the pawns burning. All that remains are for the knights to be taken from their horses. So we can all see them as they truly are: Vermin._

Six looked at the others, and then laughed, even though the pain in her head started to increase. "Did you just attempt to rhyme? Because you are failing."

At that the Gravemind roared. But then it got distracted, as the Monitor's forces were starting to gain ground on the Flood forms that littered the room, with even the Monitor himself blasting away at a Juggernaut. The Gravemind focused his effort again on the Sentinels and Enforcers.

Six then turned to the others, and laid out her plan. "Alright. We work in pairs. Each of us take down two of the exhaust ports, one opening the hatch, the other standing on the retracting tube and damaging the exhaust ports. Afterwards, we all head back up to the garage, pair up in warthogs, and race away as fast from the reactors as we can. Cortana, as soon as the final port's been blown, signal Foehammer to pick us up a bit away from the reactors. We'll high-tail out of here on her bird."

They all nodded, and formed pairs. Linda went along Johnson, to the farthest of the ports. John went with Fol to the one mirroring it. Which left her with Sam. Six stood ready to open up the exhaust port, and Sam jumped on top of the tube. Two tubes down, John was standing ready on the tube as well.

Six hit the switch, and Sam fired a rocket into it after a few seconds. A really large explosion sounded inside, and both the Flood and the Sentinels stopped fighting, looking around for the source.

 _Once this was done, they were going to have to run real fast._

Six retracted the Tube again, and Sam jumped up. Two more of the explosions sounded, and the Flood looked up. They saw John jump back up on the platform. Fol was already out of sight on the other side.

The Flood were already on to them, however, and soon three juggernauts jumped up from the bottom floor, and used their long tentacles to hang on to the tube.

They then climbed up to the tube, and ran towards them.

Six turned to fire and cover Sam, but then saw something lying on the floor right next to her in the alcove to the other tubes, where Johnson and Linda were busy with their second tube. Six was surprised she had missed it.

A flamethrower.

Six picked it up, and aimed it at the Juggernaut that was coming towards them. And let loose with half of the fuel still in the tank.

Six really enjoyed fires, the same way she liked to take teeth for her collection, or why she liked the blood that had dried onto her armor. It gave her her own sense of identity, something only she purely enjoyed.

The thing flinched away from the flames, and when they hit it it panicked, just running and jumping around. Eventually it hit the one assaulting Johnson and the Chief, and after a moment both fell off of the platform.

Straight onto the Gravemind.

Six guffawed, and continued to pour flames down upon them. The Gravemind roared in both anger and pain. "Burn, Motherfuckers. Come to my light. I've got plenty more for all of you."

The thing ran out of fuel, and Six, deciding she had provoked them enough, dropped the flamethrower. She turned around.

To see Sam just staring at her, rocket launcher hanging there loosely in his hand. Six assumed his jaw was slightly open as well. Six didn't know whether it was from shock, amazement or joy.

She turned back to the task at hand. "How are we on that second port?" she asked.

Sam grabbed the rocket launcher more steadily, and turned back to the way they had come. "Already taken care off. Lina opened the hatch, while you were enjoying yourself burning stuff down."

"Hey, even I need to enjoy myself sometimes."

They walked back to the ramp, and waited. Fol and Linda were already there, and after half a minute, John and Johnson appeared as well, completing the group.

Johnson had a cigar in his mouth, and Six saw it was lighted. "If you make a good barbecue for is, the least I can do is light my cigarette from it."

Six looked at him, then said "I have to listen to my inner voices sometimes, right?"

Johnson and the others, except Fol, laughed. They got back to the elevator, and Six pressed the button. After a moment it went up. It was stopped, however, when something latched onto it's underside.

Tentacles from the Gravemind.

"Shoot them down!" Linda called. "They're stalling us."

everyone grabbed a close-range weapon, be it an energy sword, a shotgun or a combat knife, and started to slash or shoot away at the things. The things were tough, but then John ripped off one of the gratings. The Tentacles immediately went for him, but then he threw a grenade at the largest group of tentacles, and the Tentacles were nearly blasted in half. The Gravemind, hurt, retreated back down the shaft.

But one Tentacles shot up, hit John really hard and unbalanced him. John was then grabbed by the tentacle, and dragged through the hole. John held on, and the Tentacle retreated with the others. But John's grip was too strong, and the grate he held on to ripped loose as well. Before Six or the other Spartans could do anything, John fell.

But, in a seeming act of suicide, Fol jumped after him.

And Fol hooked his legs into the braces the Tentacles had previously grabbed, and caught John's hand in his. He swung the Chief through the hole, and climbed back in himself. The Chief looked at him. "Thank you."

"No problem. We're on the same side now, and I don't hold a grudge against you." Fol then pushed the elevator button.

The elevator continued upwards. Cortana sounded over the Com. "Cortana to Echo 419: Come in Echo 419!"

Foehammer immediately responded. "Roger Cortana. I read you five by five."

"The Pillar of Autumn's engines are going critical, Foehammer! Request immediate extraction! Be ready to pick us up at external access junction 4C as soon as you get our signal! Be advised, we have 6 people ready for pickup by then: four Spartans, one marine, and one of the Elite VIP's. He has defected, over."

"Roger Cortana. Echo 419 going on station near the Access Junction. I don't know how you got an elite to defect, but I'll pick him up."

After a second, Foehammer came on again. "Echo 419 to Cortana, things are really noisy down there. Is everything ok?"

"Negative! Negative! We have a wildcat destabilization of the ship's fusion drive core. The engines must have sustained more damage than we thought!"

They finally arrived, and everyone went to one of the warthogs. Six got into the driver's seat of the LAAV, or the Rockethog. Sam got in the turret. John got into the driver's seat of the normal warthog while Johnson went into the turret. Linda went into the driver's seat of the Gausshog, while Fol went into it's turret. They all drove away.

"Analyzing." Cortana said. "We have five minutes before the reactor detonates. We need to evac NOW!" a five minute countdown appeared on Six's HUD. "Activating final countdown timer. When it reaches zero, the engines will detonate. The explosion will generate a temperature of almost one hundred million degrees. _Don't_ be here when it blows."

"Gee, couldn't have figured that for myself." Six said. "Do me a favor, and pull up the schematics of the service corridor. Light up shortcuts and the like. Anything that gives us a little bit more time to get to Foehammer."

"Done, with the HUD of every Spartan."

"Thanks."

a mini-map appeared in place of her motion tracker, and Six saw they had to cross three large open area's before they got to the rendezvous point. She gunned for it, and ensured she stayed in the lead. She opened her open Com. "Despite the fact we're racing for our very lives, and there is a chance we can die here, I'm up for a race. How about you two?"

"No. You'd be to embarrassed by being beaten by me." Linda said.

"Bring it, Lone Wolf."

"Look who's talking." John interjected. "I'm in."

"As am I." Linda said.

"deal." Six said. "Winner gets the good view of Halo blowing up."

and so they raced against the clock. The first room was easily traversed. But the last thing Six saw before entering the roofed area again troubled her: 4 Covenant Cruisers headed for the _Autumn_.

Six saw a shortcut, in the form of a tunnel that connected this part to the area they were headed for anyway, was coming up, braked, and went through it, gunning her engine again. After a moment, Linda sped past, ignoring the shortcut.

Sam opened a private channel to her. "So. To sum you up: You have a collection of teeth from aliens, you like blood a lot, you are a pyromaniac, and you have a fascination with using a knife up close on your foes. What have I missed?"

"That I'm an excellent pilot. That I can kick your ass without breaking a sweat. That I've got against our horned friend. That I-"

"Point made" Sam interrupted. "What I'm trying to say is that, at the point where most people say they've always loved someone, I'll just say that I don't. I really, really don't." Sam's voice was sarcastic, and he just seemed to be blasting away at distant targets.

Six laughed. "At Last! You've picked up my sense of humor!"

"Success for you."

Six made the gesture of a Spartan Smile, and Sam returned it. They emerged from the shortcut, and Six turned left towards their objective. They emerged into the second open area.

Which was a massive three-way fight between Enforcers, Wraiths and Juggernauts.

"Just keep driving. Don't go ramming things, or you won't make it." Six called. John and Linda sounded their acknowledgement-lights green, and Six just sped through them.

They made it, and Six just gunned the engine as fast as she could. John was starting to catch up to her, and as Six entered the tunnel, she saw that Linda was about halfway. Then something happened that couldn't have happened at a worse possible time.

Foehammer sounded a mayday.

"Foehammer to Blue-team: I'm hit. _I'm hit!_ Mayday! Mayday! Rear port Thrusters have been shot to hell! I can't hold her! I can't hold her!" Foehammer sounded distressed, and as Six emerged into the third open area, she saw it.

Foehammer's pelican was ablaze, with her rear port thruster and starboard forward thruster both on fire. She went down right in front of Six as she sped off of a rising ramp, and Six was forced to use the pelican as a ramp as it still was crashing. Two banshees, apparently the ones that had shot down Foehammer, were circling above like harpies. Six gunned the final part. Cortana sounded over their com. "Foehammer's gone. Calculating alternate escape route."

There was a pause, and then Fol sounded over the Com. "Cortana, as I boarded the _Autumn_ , I noticed there were still some Longsword fighters still parked in the ship. Could we use one of those?"

a short pause, and then " _YES_! there is a Longsword fighter still parked in Launch-bay seven. If we keep moving, we can make it."

"Then led me gain a small lead." Six said. "I'm a trained Pilot, and I can get it started the quickest."

"Sure." John said. "Just don't leave us behind."

Six sent an acknowledgement-Light, and sped ahead. The Chief and Johnson slowed down a bit so Linda and Fol could catch up.

After crossing another area. The Cortana sounded. "People, up ahead there's a gap in the trench. At top speed, you should be able to clear it."

Six nodded, but she had already gunned her Rockethog to the fastest it could go.

Then they went flying, as they sped over the end of the ramp. Six then looked, and saw they were flying way over the landing area Cortana had indicated.

But were coming up just right for the hole that went to the launch bay. It would scrape off the turret, though, so she warned him. "Sam, move! Or you'll be squashed!"

Sam looked, saw the upcoming upper edge of the hole as well, and quickly jumped from the turret into the passenger seat.

And just in time. Just as he lowered himself inside, the Rockethog sped through the hole, and they scraped along the upper edge. It tore off the turret, and shattered the windshield. Six kept on driving, and eventually got to the Longsword's launch-bay. It was turned towards them, with it's boarding ramp lowered invitingly.

And a few crates preventing the ex-Rockethog from going to it the full way. As they got to the barricade, Six jumped out, over the barricade. Sam did likewise. He hit the com. "Be advised people. The last hundred meters are blocked off by a barricade of barrels. Sprint the last bit."

"Copy." John said.

"Roger." Linda called.

Then Six looked at the countdown for the first time since it actually started.

 _1:25:03. we're cutting it really close, now._

Then Six's boots touched the Ramp, and she ran in. She ran towards the cockpit, and got into the Pilot's seat, starting up the procedure to warm up the engines.

"Hey, Six." Johnson called. "What happened to your turret?"

"Sam got annoying, so I tried to squash him away. Didn't work, unfortunately."

"You serious?"

"As serious as a crocodile."

"Those went extinct around 2300." Sam said. "What's your point?"

"You ain't exactly helping you know." Six said.

"Would it help if I got out and pushed?" from his tone Six could tell he was joking, and Six, though stressed, responded in kind. "It might."

By now Sam was laughing out loud now. He was waiting near the ramp, ready to help the others if needed. Six looked at the countdown again as the final checks were completed.

 _00:59:99. Come on. Get aboard._ Six willed them.

Then Sam called out. "I see them. They're past the barricade."

Six opened her Com. "Come on! Clock's ticking, and I've got a Longsword ready to Fly."

"Coming. We ain't as young as you, you know." Johnson called. After a few seconds more boots sounded on the Ramp, and Six just lifted off the large fighter.

"All in." Fol called. Six nodded, and as everyone piled into the cockpit, Six turned the Fighter, and sped away.

Six immediately dodged, as plasma torpedoes blasted past her. Six dodged and weaved through all the fire, and sped away from the wreck of the _Autumn_ as she sped past.

Finally, there was no fire headed their way, and Six called out. "Everyone still got their stomachs?"

"I'll get back to you on that." Johnson called.

"Four Cruisers are bombarding the wreck of the _Autumn's_ wreck." Linda reported. "Flood are headed for it like ants to dropped candy. I don't- Whoa!" Linda called.

Six saw something bright and blue shoot by real fast. It was spherical in design. It almost looked like...

 _The monitor._

Sixlooked at it. It sped away, to a safe distance at well, before Six lost sight of it near the smaller moon, Basis.

They exited the atmosphere, and Six saw a bright Flash behind them. She knew that right then and there the _Pillar of Autumn_ had exploded.

There sounded an alert: The engines were starting to overheat from the heat of the explosion. Six shut them down, for they might need them later.

Six got up for a better look. The others were all already standing there.

It was a beautiful sight. There were explosions all across the outside of the ring. The explosion of the _Autumn_ launched a large piece of the ring that had been blown off away.

Right into it's opposite part. The ring broke in two, and debris flew everywhere, and a lot of the pieces, most kilometers across, were on fire.

"Cortana, did anyone else make it?" Johnson asked.

"Scanning." A short pause, and then the verdict came through. Just dust and echo's. We're all that's left."

everyone either looked morose,or lowered their heads. Six just moved back to the Pilot's seat.

"We did what we had to do. For Earth." Cortana reasoned. "An entire Covenant Armada obliterated. And the Flood... We had no choice."

Six agreed. But that didn't mean she had to like it. Over a thousand human beings were now dead, and an untold amount of Covenant Soldier. It was mass-murder, even if it was necessary.

"Halo." Cortana said. "It's finished."

Then a weird sound sounded behind Six, and she turned around.

And saw Fol had formed his jaws to form a _smile_.

"With my luck, combined with the Covenant's determination? I think we are just getting started."

Six couldn't help but agree. With the discovery of this ring, the covenant would increase their efforts to crush humanity, in retribution to this one's destruction.

 _No, they were indeed only just beginning._

* * *

 **A/N: There. The end of the first part. every journey, no matter how great, begins with a single step. I thank you all for waiting patiently. The last part took a bit to write, but I can honestly say I enjoyed this.**

 **see you at our first strike, fellow Legionairs**

 **Gharst Omenlumin**


	9. Epilogue 1: First Cohort

**SURPRISE!**

 **I decided to give you guys a hint of what might be more to come. I initially wanted to make these as stand-alone stories, but I got an idea from watching the TV-series lost (A few years back, but a reference to it's many flashbacks got me thinking), and did this instead.**

 **In short, I have TWO new factions in mind for an AU after Halo 3, and I will provide these epilogues to give them a sort of origin story. This one, inspired by Halo Machinima Elites of war, made by Trigramsproductions, shows the rise of the Legion, and what they will grow to be. The other, coming somewhere at the end of the week, shows a faction of insurrectionists that, though incredibly loyal to the UNSC, split away due to the ethical and Moral issues with the Spartan-II program, and ONI's role in it.**

 **Legion, it's time you know the truth.**

* * *

Epilogue one: First Cohort.

Location: "Death Gulch canyon", outskirts of capital "New Vietnam" Human Outer Colony of Sephora

Date: 14-02-2530

The rounds seared past Gregory Recko's head, as he fought of the raiders, and kept them away from the Capital. "Keep your eyes up Front!" He called out, focusing his troops.

When the Covenant had attacked Harvest, the UNSC had pulled away, all of their planetary ships, save for a small flotilla of twelve ships. Where the planet had once had over seventy five, in order to deal with the massive amount of insurrectionists on the planet. And when the majority of the Fleet had been pulled away, Recko and the Sephoran Guard had made barricades all around the Capital of New Vietnam, in an attempt to ward off the 'black raiders', as they were called by his troops for their mostly black armor.

They had been successful in preventing a siege, and so the raiders had attempted to breach the barricades by attacking the Death Gulch. It consisted of a single hill-like canyon with a beach on one end and a cave to another. The commonly known weaknesses of the Gulch were that while in the Canyon, one was in a constant Killing field, with the defenders having the Constant advantage.

But once one was on top of the hill, and had taken the barricade, one had a massive Cave system. One that ended straight at the Capital, right past the city walls. And the whole of the Sephoran Guard was deployed too far outside of the city to save the civilian population in time. So Recko and his platoon had to hold this hill at any cost. And the raiders threw all the man that they had into it, like a never-ending current of soldiers.

 _And where the hell's the Colonel?_

He had been trying to raise command again. They were down to a little over a dozen men, and although they were slaughtering the raiders they were felling trees, they just kept coming. He needed reinforcements immediately. And Colonel John Swagger wasn't responding.

"Hold the line! We've gotta hold this Hill!" he called. Everyone was calling out their status, where more firepower was needed, priority targets like officers, and here and there a curse. Recko didn't mind. As long as they got reinforcements.

Recko was starting to get low on his clip, and the Raiders seemed to have figured out he was leading this bunch. They all focused fire on him. He dived for cover.

Then Sniper fire sounded across the canyon, and Recko poked his head out again.

"Thanks, Ramirez!" He called, to be heard over the constant fire of assault rifles.

"Got your back, boss" Ramirez called back. "Boom! Headshot."

"Hold the line!" Recko called. He then moved back, to check on their mechanic, Lao Fei. They had started out the assault on their position with a tank, but it had been damaged early in the battle, and Fei had been busy repairing it ever since. Fei could keep his cool, but he was better deployed with a welder rather than a rifle.

"How's that tank coming, Fei?" he asked. The others had kept asking where the Tank was, and, to be honest with himself, he was wondering as well. They truly could use it right now.

"Not sure, Sir." Fei reported. Despite his Chinese roots, his voice was grave, and had an american accent. "This thing's been beat up pretty badly, and it's running on it's last legs. Engine's gone. I might be able to fix the turret, but that's a stretch."

"Well, hurry the hell up!" Recko said. He then moved over to their Communications gear. It linked them to both the Fleet in orbit and Sephoran command in the Capital city. But for some reason no one was answering, and according to Fei's engineer partner, Thomas McGregor, it was operating at optimum efficiency on their end.

"Command! Command! This is Guard 447. I don't know how long we're gonna hold. Where are the damn reinforcements?" No response. "Command? Command! Shit."

Recko gave up on the Com, and moved back to join the others at the barricade. "We're on our own. Keep on fighting, boys!" he called out.

The heavy-weapons specialist, Adewale, was keeping the raiders from getting too close with suppression fire from his machine gun turret. But the Raiders just kept on coming, running towards them through the killing Field on a suicidal charge.

Then they got close enough to their Mine field, and Recko called out. "Ramirez, hit the Fan!"

It was their agreed upon signal. When Off-Duty, Ramirez was cocky, arrogant, annoying, had a bad sense of humor and scared the ladies away from everyone near him. In short: a piece of shit. But during an earlier battle Ramirez had shot an Insurrectionist ammo and explosives supply, and it took them all out. They had all been deployed at that camp, 24 of them all, and it merely took one shot from Ramirez to take them all out. And when he coined the term 'Shit hit the Fan here', it had ever since been their term for Ramirez to shoot at explosive supplies.

In this case their mine field.

The raiders went down by the dozens every Ramirez hit a mine, and although they still kept coming, the pressure sure decreased on everyone else. Then even better news hit Recko.

"Sir!" Fei reported. "The turret's back online, but the rest is... just gone."

"Provide covering fire, now!" Recko called.

"Will be done sir!"

Recko waited for a few seconds, and sure enough, shells shot at the raiders from behind them. They went down, all of them. Soon, the raiders that were present even started to retreat!

"Yeah!" Recko called out. "Blow them to Bits!"

The raiders fell back, and eventually went back to the beach, out of their effective range. At least, Recko assumed that, because he couldn't see them beyond the next hell, two-thirds of the way down the canyon, near the beach.

"Hahaha! We've got them boys!" Recko called out, and everyone started to cheer.

But then Recko heard a new sound rise above the cheering, and his heart plummeted.

The sound of four scorpion tanks rolling their way. From the direction of the beach.

"No."

But sure enough, the tanks appeared. Beyond the range of most of their weapons. Only Ramirez and Fei could hit them at this range. And they were severely outnumbered. The other raiders reappeared alongside the tank, mocking them openly.

"NO! TAKE COVER!" he called.

That was the last audible thing he said, before the tanks started to blast the barricade apart.

Deployable covers were thrown about, sandbags were blown away. The Sephoran Guard kept firing, trying to take a few of the raiders down with them. But Recko knew it was in vain. They wouldn't hit even the broadside of a longsword at this range. They kept firing none the less.

The first one he knew was dead was Fei. An explosion came from behind him, and the next thing Recko knew, the barrel of their tank flew past them.

Then a stray tank shot caused a landslide on their left side, and during a reload, Recko saw Ramirez had been buried alive, with his hand still sticking out from under the rubble.

McGregor came next, and Recko saw him fly over the barricade from the force of the explosion, his back ripped open by Shrapnel.

Then a shot hit the barricade next to Recko. He flew a second, before landing barely a meter away from where he had been standing.

The onslaught continued as Recko fought to stay conscious. But the Guard was losing. He saw bodies flying everywhere all around him, and Recko tried to turn his head.

And wished he hadn't. Adewale lay next to him. His helmet had been blown half off, and Recko saw half his face had gone with it. Recko saw the Raiders finally dared to storm the barricade again, and they quickly had it overrun.

Recko saw them shoot anyone that was still standing, and then aw them, and the scorpion tanks roll past, straight into the caves.

The Sephoran uprisings had begun. And it angered Recko beyond anything he had felt before. It was the thought he held on to as he finally descended into unconsciousness.

Recko woke up with a start. It was afternoon, and he wondered why he was feeling like hell.

And then he looked around, and remembered.

Lao Fei. Ramirez. Thomas McGregor. Adewale. All dead.

Recko saw a lot of debris around him. The artillery attacks had devastated the entire barricade. The Scorpion was turned over, beyond recovery. The ammo crates hadn't been raided, as the raiders had been too focused on taking New Vietnam, and hadn't stopped to inspect the crates. For if they had, they'd have noticed that they were filled with ammo, and taken them with them.

Bastards. Cowards. Murderers.

Recko got up, and was about to walk over to the beach, when he heard something odd.

A high whine, like some high-tech equipment starting up. Recko looked around the barricade he was behind, and immediately jumped back into cover.

Huge aliens were walking over the battlefield, with a purple craft, with side hatches opened, hovering back at the beach.

He then keyed his Com, hoping to pick up some Com traffic. And to his surprise, he heard something speaking in english. It was deep gravely, and odd, like someone didn't quite have the right anatomy to speak the words. But it was English none the less.

"Jan, search the bodies. Take all you can. Ammunition, Data chips, Armor: Strip them bare."

"You heard him." someone Recko assumed was Jan, said. "Spread out. You have ten minutes."

"Right away, commander Coldrun." came a chorus of responses.

Recko went deeper into the barricades, and hid between some crates. He had heard about the Covenant, and their war of Genocide, but he had never encountered them personally. He had, however, seen the press release about their declaration of war, and known that the Covenant would do anything to kill off humanity.

"That barricade might hold what we need." The first voice said over his com. "Send the rest to search it."

"It will be done, Commander." Jan said. "Legion! Move to the barricade."

Recko cowered deeper into the barricade. He had already given up on surviving. The regime on the planet had changed with the fall of his line, and he had let his citizens down. Had let them be slaughtered. If these things didn't kill him, then he would do so himself.

Then one of the things came around the corner, and Recko and it locked eyes.

It was large, Saurian, had hoofed feet, and had it's jaws split, with four mandibles forming the lower jaw. It had gray odd, somehow futuristic armor, and had similar weaponry, though that was colored blue..

"A survivor!" it said to itself. It then walked away so it's comrades could see it, but it still kept an eye on Recko. Another of the things, identical in appearance, appeared in front of it. "We've got one. Inform the High Commander." the first said.

"Right away." The second said, and it sprinted off. The first one moved to keep an eye on Recko, but still kept itself visible to it's comrades. There was no way Recko could take it down silently.

"Commander Gharst!" sounded over his Com, with the voice of the second, and the first perked up a bit. But besides that it did nothing. "We've found a survivor."

"Then our trip here was not in vain. Show me." the very first voice said, and then no one sounded over the Com at all.

Recko waited a minute, and then a group of the things appeared. Most appeared to be the same like the others, but two stood out.

One had Golden armor, which seemed somehow more ornate. More powerful. Likely due to the blue lights lining the armor. Clearly it was an indicator of rank. It had the same weapon as the grey ones. The other had similar armor, but it's shoulder armor was different. Thicker, and more tilted backwards. It also had horns added to it's armor, also tilted backwards. It carried, to Recko's great surprise, an Assault rifle.

"Here he is, Commander. He has Comms on our frequency, so he could hear most of what we said."

The Commander nodded, and Recko assumed it was Jan. It knelt down, so it could look Recko in the eye as Recko sat, leaning against the debris of the Scorpion tank Fei had sat in.

To Recko's slight surprise, it spoke with the voice of the first. The one they addressed as Commander Gharst.

"What is your name, soldier?" it asked, patiently. It looked at Recko, and truly seemed to care.

Recko, no longer giving a damn about anything, just looked it in the eye.

"Why do you care?" he asked sadly. He no longer cared what happened to him. He looked down, at his hands. The ones that had let this massacre happen. "Just finish me."

"If I wanted you dead, I would have done so the moment we landed. Your name, soldier." Gharst persisted. He was patient, but led it creep into his voice that he wouldn't leave until he had an answer. Recko looked up again. "My name?" he asked incredulously. He started laughing to himself, softly. It wasn't the fun kind of laughter with comrades, but the morbid, serious one that often happened when people were starting to break down. Recko nearly turned it into crying, but he stopped before that could happen. Gharst noticed, though, for he seemed to... Recko didn't know what it was that gave it away, but he somehow knew the elite seemed to understand his grief.

And shared it.

"I'm Gregory Recko of the Sephoran Guard." Recko gestured around him. "Or what's left of it."

"Then I want you to meet someone, Gregory Recko of the Sephoran Guard." Gharst said. He pronounced his surname slightly wrong, pronouncing the E like in Where instead of We. But Recko didn't mind. The elite got up, and turned to the original grey one that had discovered him. "Help him up."

The elite held out his hand, and after a moment's hesitation, Recko grabbed it.

Recko was slightly surprised. These weren't genocidal aliens that were bent on destroying Humanity, as they'd been originally portrayed. In fact, they seemed more bent on helping him than killing him.

Gharst and the gold one, who Recko assumed was Jan, led him through the barricade, back through the Gulch, towards the beach. Halfway there, a group was clustered, holding another human under shot. As they arrived at that group, the front one of the captors stepped aside, and Recko immediately recognized him.

"I would like you to meet: your commanding officer. Colonel Swagger." Gharst said. Recko stepped up to the Colonel. He needed answers, despite the fact he had hoped the things would kill him barely a few minutes before.

"Sir. Where were our reinforcements? The equipment was fine. Why did you not answer? Why?!" Recko noticed his voice was starting to rise.

Swagger just looked up, his face just as impassive as his uniform. "I was simply following orders."

"We held that Hell for three days! We requested the damn birds! Infantry! Anything! I LOST MY ENTIRE TEAM HERE!"

The Colonel still looked on impassively. Aside from his mouth, he hadn't moved at all since looking up. "I was following orders."

"Bullshit!" Recko called.

Gharst stepped closer to Recko. "I will tell you why, Gregory Recko. While you held your ground to the last man, the entire Sephoran command retreated to the mointains. Leaving your city, _your homes_ , to burn."

He turned to the Recko, and Reckop to him. Gharst's voice took on an accusing tone "He left hundreds of soldiers to fall. He left Civilians to the enemy's mercy, running as shells filled the sky and rained down upon them."

Gharst's voice was rising as well, although he didn't increase the speed at which he spoke. He turned to the Colonel. "And for _what_? To save twelve bureaucratic bastards who would rather see their soldiers die, covering their own retreat?"

Recko looked at the Colonel again. Truly? He had been left behind? Just to save a bloody useless council?

 _It couldn't be._

"Is that true?" he asked the Colonel. The Colonel evaded his gaze, and Recko knew Gharst was telling the truth. But he needed to hear it. "IS THAT TRUE?"

"I was just simply following orders." The colonel started, making excuses. "I'm just a pawn. I had no choice."

" _Lies_!" Gharst immediately retorted. "We have intercepted communications from twelve frigates ready to strike upon _your_ command!" Gharst pointed at the Colonel to empathize his point. "Instead, you used them transport gold, platinum and works of art off the planet." Recko looked at Gharst, Shocked. The entire Fleet was at Swagger's disposal, and he used it to rob people?

 _No!_

"Twelve thousand men, ready to aid." Gharst continued. "Were left to transport mere _trinkets_!"

The colonel then looked at Recko, and a look of concern, and... even fear, crossed his face. Gharst had hit the mark. "Don't listen to him! He is an _alien_! You can't trust them..he will kill you the first chance he gets! He will _use_ you!"

Recko stood there, just looking at the Colonel. Gharst moved closer to Recko. "You have a _choice_ , Gregory Recko. Will you let this traitor, this _Coward_ , live after he left your men, and countless others like you, to _die_?

Gharst then started to grip his assault rifle less tightly. Recko could take the thing from his hands if he wanted to. "Or will you judge him _now_ for his crimes? For betraying his men. For killing them. For killing your _team_!"

Recko finally turned to Gharst, and addressed him. He didn't believe what he said, but he actually defended the Colonel. But it didn't come out sincerely, for he didn't believe it.

And Gharst knew it.

"He is my commanding officer. He _had_ no choice."

"There is _always_ a choice!" Gharst retorted, his voice rising again in volume. "He chose to do _nothing_! I am giving you a choice now, Gregory Recko. Take control of your life. Of your actions. PUNISH HIM FOR HIS CRIMES!"

The Colonel, encouraged by the fact Recko defended him, spoke with more confidence. And accusation. "Will you side with these split-jaws over your own kind Recko?" The Colonel stood up. "Look who is the traitor now!" he pointed at Recko, and tapped at his chest. "He is poisoning your mind. Is it not obvious?" Recko knew Swagger was trying to convince him, to persuade him, and his tone even hinted so.

But before Recko could even form an answer, multiple scenes shot through his head.

 _Ramirez, buying Recko, Adewale, Fei and McGregor a beer._

 _The beginning of their defense of the Hill at the top of Death Gulch._

 _The Raiders retreating under Fei's fire, and Ramirez shooting any stragglers._

 _The appearance of the Scorpions, and their bombardment of the barricade._

 _Adewale's half blown off face. His childhood friend. Dead._

Recko got back to the present. He looked directly at the Colonel. He knew who he sided with here.

"No." He said, determined. He could not be persuaded from this. Never.

 _This bastard had to DIE._

Recko eyed the assault rifle from the corner of his eye, and then spoke again. "He _opened_ my eyes."

Recko was fast. In fact, he had the fastest reflexes of his entire battalion. He grabbed the assault rifle from Gharst's arms before anyone could even blink, and fired a short, controlled burst at the Colonel. He fell down on the ground, onto his back. Recko stepped over to him. The Colonel, bleeding from multiple holes in his chest, looked up, his eyes pleading Recko to stop. But Recko wouldn't. This coward had to pay.

He unloaded the entire clip into the Colonel's heart and face in cold blood. He fired until the weapon clicked multiple times, indicating it was empty.

Gharst stepped over to him, with what Recko guessed was a smile on his face. "And he was only the _start_. There are countless others like him spread through this planet. To this corrupted and fragile galaxy."

Recko looked at his hands, realizing for the first time what he had done. He had shot his superior. He had fired on one of his own. He had committed high treason.

He felt great. And he was terrified of how great he felt.

"I'm a traitor. I've killed him." Recko actually took a step back. He was shocked at what he had done. And conflicted. "What have I done?"

Gharst stepped closer to Recko, and actually, though carefully, pushed Recko closer to the corpse. And during this time, only took his eyes off the corpse to look Recko in the eyes. "No, Gregory Recko. You've become who you have been meant to be." Gharst glanced shortly at the corpse, before looking back at Recko.

"Join us, Gregory Recko. Help us exterminate all those who have betrayed us. Left us to die. Used us for their petty games. I guarantee you: We will hunt them all down." Gharst paused after each of the last three words. He then grabbed something from his belt.

Recko saw it was a clip for an assault rifle. "The choice is yours."

Recko looked at Gharst, and weighed his options. He could stay here, support the regime that would inevitably pop up, and hope he would even live to see the next month.

Or he could join them. He could help Gharst. He could hunt down traitors.

He would have a true purpose.

"Where do we start?" He asked, as took the Clip, and reloaded the Assault Rifle.

* * *

 ** _And so, the first true alliance between Humans and Elites was formed._**

 ** _Now, just wait and see until the next story. there's plenty more to come._**

 ** _More to me than you realize._**

 ** _Gharst Omenlumin_**


	10. Epilogue 2: Live with the Sins

**Here is the final epilogue. I will provide these epilogues to all of my stories, so be sure to check up on them. I will look forward to completing this origin, for (SLIGHT SPOILER) Graves fill play a larger part in the future.**

 **virtual cookies to whoever guesses where I got the names of the characters and some of the places. as usual, I don't own any of this stuff, so please, NOBODY SUE ME**

* * *

Epilogue two: Live with the sins

Location: Starport, Coastal district, New Alexandria, Eposz, Reach.

Date: 01-09-2517

Ensign Marcus Graves just sat there, in the cockpit of his modified Albatross. Just staring ahead.

He had been called to ONI HQ, which was in the 'High Rises' district of the city. He and a few others had been called, and been assigned a group of 'subjects' to take from Outer and Inner Colonies, with Graves serving as the pilot of their group. He had only learned underway that the 'Subjects' were in fact Six year old children, and that they were to be taken in for something called the 'Spartan-II' program, to be trained as super-soldiers against the insurrection, with them later receiving augmentations to enhance their strength, speed, reflexes and tolerance to pain.

And Graves was appalled by it. Using child-soldiers, experimenting on them. It was wrong on an unimaginable level. And even worse was the fact that ONI condoned it. In fact, they were the ones who likely had ordered it. Graves didn't care about what Stanforth and the other admirals thought, but Graves couldn't just stand by and let the UNSC use something that had supposedly been outlawed since before he could even remember.

Graves had actually talked with a few of the children. And, following his grandfather's teachings, used a hidden recorder to record the conversations he had with them.

For some it was actually an improvement for their situation, like the child from Cascade. Serin, Graves remembered she was called. Her mother had been a neglecting prostitute, and Serin had to often dig through garbage to get enough to eat. Graves was happy she would now receive a bit more care.

But the others, like Naomi from Sansar, Kelly from Imber and Frederic from Ballast, they were taken from proper families, with caring parents, and some even had brothers and sisters. They were taken from their homes, without the consent of their parents, and when any of the children asked when they could see their parents again, Graves had nearly burst into tears with shame and anger at not being able to answer the question.

Graves finally exited the Albatross, after sitting there for hours, determining what he would do.

And he needed advice from his best friend.

Graves grabbed his Chatter, dialed Mac's frequency, and pressed call. A chatter was in reality not that different from a smartphone from the 21st and 22nd century, with only having a lot more range. Mac didn't answer. Graves didn't blame him, for it was midnight right now.

"Mac? This is Graves." Graves always addressed himself by his last name, even if everyone else always called him by his first name. Graves didn't mind. "I just... look, I need to talk to someone I trust right now. Can you meet me Saturday, around twelve o'clock?"

Graves paused. He weighed his words carefully, for ONI would surely be listening in on any of his calls. "Send me a message, and you can pick the place. Marcus out."

To outsiders, it wouldn't mean anything, but between Graves and Mac, it was an indicator of how serious it was. Graves never signed off with his first name, and Mac and Graves both agreed that if either signed off with the name used least, it meant something really big was going on.

Graves decided to walk the long way home, detouring through the business districts, the Slums. Hell, he even walked past all the party clubs in the outskirts. Graves had to practically be dragged by his hair, which was shorter than regulations required, in order to enter that district. But Graves could use the distraction of bright lights and loud Flip music to keep his mind from what was going on at The Reach FLEETCOM military complex in the Highlands, where the Spartans would from now on be raised and trained.

He then passed a familiar face sitting on a bench with a bottle of whisky in his hand. Robert Taube, or 'Barker', as he'd been called by Mac. Barker had a gift for manning any kind of vehicle with incredible skill, whether it was a mere mongoose or a full-on AC-220Vulture Heavy Gunship.

He was also a drunk most of the time he was off-duty, and cursed a lot of the time, which prevented him from climbing up further in the chain of command. Graves suspected Barker didn't give a damn, though.

"Hello Barker. Long time no see." Graves called at him. Barker didn't turn around, so Graves moved over to him.

Barker had passed out drunk, and his breath smelled of Alcohol. The bottle he held in his hand was empty. Graves sighed, then stirred him with his boot. Barker woke up, sitting upright. He checked his pockets, and, satisfied he hadn't been robbed, turned to Graves. He looked surprised.

"Graves. What arrrre you doin' heare?" Barker slurred. Barker was a mutual friend of his, both having met through Mac. Graves held his hand out, helping Barker up.

"I was just taking a walk. I could use the fresh air."

"You're in the whrong district, then. This shithole has only alcohol in the aiiiirrrr..." Barker started to trip, and was too busy watching where he was going, and didn't pay attention to what he was saying. Graves chuckled.

"Yeah, you're right. Come on. You need to get home. If you pass out on the sidewalk, I won't guard you from pickpockets. Now move your ass." Barker nodded, and Graves walked the drunk home. After a few minutes, Graves and Barker arrived at Barker's home. Graves unlocked the door for him, and laid Barker on the couch. Graves typed a note on Barker's datapad detailing their encounter, locked the door behind him, shoved the key underneath the door, and left.

His chatter stirred, and Graves got it out of his coat pocket. It was a typed message from Mac.

 _I can meet right now. Come to club Errera. I can arrange for privacy._

Graves smiled despite his mood, pocketed his chatter, and moved back to the High Rises district.

The 'high rises' district, though officially called Inner City by officials, was basically a district full of skyscrapers, with every building in it having at least fifty floors, and most had more.

Club Errera was a club embedded in the middle of the Vyrant Telecom Tower, serving as entertainment for many of the residents of the skyscrapers.

Graves arrived at the tower, pressed the button for the 150th floor, and let the elevator carry him up. He immediately arrived at the club. It was signified by orange lights in a otherwise dark setting, and having a vague arena-like shape, with a large pit in the center and balconies and tables surrounding the edge. The place where the head of state would sit in ancient arenas was where the Composer of the night was blasting away at the music.

It often played music that hadn't been heard of by most people, and of which Graves suspected most disliked anyway. The music, called 'Epic music' by those listening to it, was basically a bunch of composers making music based on 20th, 21st and 22nd century movie soundtracks. It was popular among current-day naval officers, and Graves knew Mac had a taste for it. He even remembered Mac talking about some of the three composer groups that were most popular among it, _Two steps from Hell_ , _Immediate Music_ and _Audiomachine_. they were inspired from their 21st century counterparts,

After a few minutes of searching, Graves found Mac, sitting at one of the tables on the opposite edge of the balconies. Graves joined him.

Graves knew Mac would trust him. James MacAllen, called 'Mac' by his friends, was as old as Marcus, around eighteen. Marcus and James had lied about their age, signing up on the local Navy recruitment center two years before they were legally allowed to do so. Both looked a lot older than their age suggested, and so the officials hadn't minded. In initial classes, both Graves and Mac had scored incredibly high on all of their tests, with only admiral Cole having scored higher. They had both been transferred to the Reach Naval Academy, and had passed with flying colors. Graves had only served two weeks, though, before he had been called away by ONI to... call it what it is: Kidnap Children to become soldiers.

Mac looked up, and immediately saw Graves was upset about something. They had been friends since childhood, and Graves and Mac knew each other like open books.

Graves started to sit down, but Mac stopped him from doing so. "Don't, Graves. I said I could arrange for privacy."

Mac turned, and gestured at one of the barmen. The man nodded, and he opened a door to the back. Mac led Graves there, and both went through. After Graves passed through, the man closed the door. Graves immediately started to check for listening devices, and Mac looked on with a slight grin on his face. Graves knew it was more an attempt to lighten the mood, rather than actual amusement.

"Still following in your grandfather's footsteps?" Mac asked.

"He taught me a lot of handy things from his time as an ONI field agent. And with what I have to tell you, I'm not going to take any unnecessary risks."

Mac nodded, and then shoved a crate a bit so he could sit on it. Graves did likewise as soon as he was done.

Graves sighed, and then started the tale. "You know I got called away by ONI, right?"

Mac nodded. "I couldn't find you for weeks. That call was the first I've heard of you since them calling you away."

Graves then handed him the memory data from the recorder, and told Mac everything. "I was called simply as the pilot, serving as the busdriver for a bunch people. We were supposed to pick up about fifteen 'Subjects' from the Outer and Inner Colonies, going to Circumstance, Passage, Asphodel, Minister, Cygnus, Bhuj, Meridian, Demeter, Eridanus II, Imber, Harvest, Ballast, Verent, Cascade and Sansar."

"From your tone, I'm guessing it ain't normal 'Subjects'." Mac said, as he took a swig of water from his plastic bottle.

Graves looked at his best friend, in the eyes, and told him the cold hard truth. "The subjects were six year old children, from all ethnicities."

Mac actually spat his water out in shock. He looked at Graves. "Did I catch that right? Children?"

"Yes, Mac. And the worst part is yet to come."

"How can it be any worse?"

Graves grabbed Mac's bottle, closed the cap, and set it down on the floor. "Two reasons. The children were replaced by clones."

"But we've never successfully flash-cloned an entire human, right? They all died in a few years due to muscle contraption and other Clone-related diseases, right?."

"That's my point, Mac. They- no, _we_ kidnapped children, and gave the parents back children that will die in years."

Mac looked at Marcus, and could only slightly open his mouth in shock. They both knew ONI would cover it up as genetic illnesses, blaming the parents. They would be devastated.

"and the other thing?" Mac asked, as he recovered a bit.

Graves sat down himself, and Mac decided to do so as well on his own crate, his head leaning on one arm and knee.

"They were selected for their genetics, which were one-in-a-billion. They were gifted children, with one even performing exact measurements where most children can barely even eat properly. If you were the leader of an intelligence organization with imperfect cloning techniques, what would you do with them?"

Mac looked at him with rage this time. "NO! Even ONI wouldn't do something like this. Remember Mamore?"

at this, Mac went quiet, and Graves then addressed the issue he had. "Mac, we both know that the UEG and UNSC ain't that bad. It's ONI that's ruining the paradise. And if ONI can ensure they have super-soldiers with the Navy approving of it, then I don't want to be a part of their show. But I have no Idea where to go."

Mac finally got out of stupor, and then gave something to Graves. He saw it was a set of coordinates. "While you were b- while you were away, me and Barker got approached by an insurrectionist recruiter. I refused, but he gave me his Com code anyway, and Barker recommended I keep it for a while."

Graves looked at his friend, not believing what he was hearing. "Are you suggested we join the insurrection?"

"Not really. You remember the wargames we did as kids? The tyrannic IMC against my rebel militia?"

Graves smirked at that. "Yes. What's your point?"

"I'm suggesting we join up, and then take one of the movements over from the inside. Remake it into our image."

Graves nodded. That wouldn't be quite as bad, even if they had to fight their own for a time. Graves looked back at MacAllen. "When do we leave?"

"I suggest as soon as possible. ONI won't sit on their hands. You know that from your granddad."

Mac then held the data-chip Graves had handed to him. "And what's this, exactly?"

Graves thought back to all of those children. John-117 from Eridanus II, Kelly-087 from Imber, Sam-034 from Harvest, Fred-104 from Ballast, Linda-058 from Verent, Kurt-051 from Circumstance, Jerome-092 from Minister, Douglas-042 from Asphodel, Alice-130 from Passage, Osman-019 from Cascade, Allison-116 from Meridian, Naomi-010 from Sansar, Jai-006 from Bhuj, Adriana-111 from Cygnus and Mike-120 from Demeter. He thought back to the entire list of children that were supposed to become Spartans. He was glad that he had secretly made a copy of the list while everyone else was distracted with keeping the children busy.

"A recorded interview several of the children, performed by me. ONI isn't aware I recorded it."

Mac looked it over, then grabbed a pair of headphones, inserted them into his datapad, inserted the chip into it. And listened. To the Children asking Graves when they were going home, when they were going to see their parents again, and what they were doing here. And Graves just standing there. Graves offered sweets to them, along with some water, but besides that, there was no way he could have helped the kids at that moment.

Graves would dedicate them all to his memory. Their numbers and their names.

Graves then got up, and, after Mac was finished, gestured to the door. "Let's get Barker then, and get moving. ONI won't like me being out in the open. Most of the others went with the Children to their training facility. It won't be long before ONI will come for me as well."

Mac nodded, and handed back the chip. They exited the club, and got to their respective apartments to gather their belongings. Mac made sure Barker did the same, and they all gathered back at the Starport after about eight hours, for it took that long to get Barker to wake up. Graves unlocked the Albatross, which opened to his touch, his fingerprints still encoded in it's systems.

"How are we supposed to get out of here, then?" Barker asked. He had sobered up a bit, though he still had a Hangover. "An Albatross doesn't have a Slipspace drive."

"This one does." Graves said. "It was modified by ONI-"

"I don't need to know the details." Barker interrupted. "I don't care about them. Just tell me it can actually get us to Talitsa."

Graves nodded, and then he stepped inside, and moved his stuff into the modified dropship. Graves moved towards the cockpit to get in the pilot's seat, but Barker already sat there. Graves moved to the common area.

And from the corner of his eye that the grating of the floor near a cabinet was loose. Graves moved to check there weren't any damaged systems beneath it.

And saw that instead, a lot of stuff had been dumped there. Graves's throat caught.

It were belongings from the children.

Graves grabbed an empty crate from the back of the ship, moved it to the closet, and moved all of the stuff in there. It were mostly small things from their pockets, like chains, pendants, coins and here and there a stuffed toy or picture. one of the things caught Graves' eye, and he stuffed it into his own pocket. It was a necklace with a bunny's head hanging from it. Graves recognized it as Kelly's. he took it, and tried to hang it around his neck. It was slightly too short, so Graves instead pocketed it with the picture.

Mac moved over, saw what Graves was doing, and decided to join him in clearing it up. Mac grabbed a few mementoes of his own. Grave decided he had enough horror's for the next week, closed the box, and then moved to lay down on the blankets that had been brought for the children.

He didn't know which Insurrectionist they would go to after they dumped the likely tagged Albatross on Talitsa, but Graves knew that everything he did from now on, he would do it to atone for his mistakes and sins involving the Spartan-II program.

He owed it to those kids, even if they wouldn't remember it.

* * *

 _The Titans are taken, but a mere pawn will turn out to become the greatest King._

 _The Floodgates have unlatched._

* * *

 **There, the second and final Epilogue to the Flood. I will look forward to further developing Graves. I will honestly say, I won't make another entry save for rewrites to correct spelling mistakes and making a few additional fights in the early chapters (Those were way too short in my own opinion, but that can be expected from a first-time Fanfiction writer). If any of you are still interested, my interpretation of Halo: First Strike will be out soon, so be sure to check my profile for it.**

 **as usual, reviews of this story are appreciated.**

 **Gharst Omenlumin**


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